Dwight Howard Rumors: Possible Trade for Joe Johnson Means Nets Won't Land D12
We still don't know what the future holds for Dwight Howard, but we do know that he's not going to end up with the Brooklyn Nets.
According to The Star-Ledger's Colin Stephenson, the Nets are on the verge of acquiring Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Joe Johnson:
"Hearing the Nets-Joe Johnson deal is "pretty much done.''
— Colin Stephenson (@Ledger_Nets) July 2, 2012"
This has to be the worst case of a plan backfiring that the NBA has seen in recent memory. After months of shenanigans, Howard is still not going to Brooklyn to play with Deron Williams.
According to ESPN's Chris Broussard and Marc Stein, the acquisition of Johnson makes it increasingly unlikely that Howard will join Johnson and Williams in New York.
If Johnson's arrival convinces Williams that the Nets are seriously attempting to build a contender, and he chooses to re-sign, Howard to the Nets becomes a virtual impossibility.
This news comes around the same time that Broussard tweeted this:
"Source on Nets moving on from possibility of getting Dwight: "Dwight blew it in March'' when he waived opt-out clause.
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 2, 2012"
Here is your story of the NBA offseason, folks.
Howard tried to manipulate the Magic into dealing him before the trade deadline. Coaches were fired. General managers were shown the door.
Then, he waived his opt-out clause, which apparently ended his chance of playing for the Nets.
Meanwhile, through this whole unraveling process, Howard thinks he still has a chance to play at the Barclays Center, when in fact he hasn't had a shot since March.
As a result of these circumstances, Howard will remain stuck in Orlando for another season unless he adds another team or two to his list of acceptable suitors.
Per Broussard's report, the Magic front office did not appear too keen on sending Howard to Brooklyn.
In fact, they were so lackadaisical about the deal getting done that the Nets weren't able to draw the process out any longer and had to make some kind of move. If they hadn't, who knows what decision Williams would have made in the coming days.
At the very least, the addition of Johnson gives the Nets another big-name guy to revolve their marketing campaign around. If they didn't bring him in and lost Williams to another team, drawing fans to the arena on game night could prove rather difficult.
If Williams re-signs, the Nets will have some decent star power to build a playoff team around in the near future.
