NBA Free Agent Rumors: Brooklyn Nets Have Serious Brook Lopez Decision to Make

The Brooklyn Nets have some tough choices to make regarding restricted free agent Brook Lopez, and they don’t have much time.

Obviously, the Nets number one goal this summer has been to land Dwight Howard and build a solid team around him.

They have accomplished the latter by adding Joe Johnson and re-signing Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace. However, they have yet to find a suitable package to entice the Orlando Magic to ship the superstar big man to the Big Apple.

Any deal that they could possibly get done is going to focus on Lopez as the most integral piece aside from DH12.

However, the franchise is pressed for time, as ESPN’s Marc Stein has recently found that the Portland Trail Blazers and Charlotte Bobcats are ready and willing to present the former Stanford standout with a four-year max offer sheet.

"

Source close to process says Portland & Charlotte have indeed told Brook Lopez they're ready to sign him today to four-year max offer sheet

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 11, 2012"

Fortunately, the Nets do have some leverage, as they are the only team able to reward Lopez with a five-year deal if the Dwight Howard trade falls through.

If the organization decides that things will not work out with Orlando, or Lopez decides to sign an offer sheet with one of his other suitors, that will effectively kill any chance of Howard moving to Brooklyn this summer.

Should the Nets match his four-year max or offer the five-year max, Lopez will become ineligible for any transactions until December.

With such little wiggle room around the salary cap in these offseason hypothetical trades between Brooklyn and Orlando, it’s unlikely that any further moves would even be possible from December up until the trade deadline next season.

The Brooklyn brass need to decide, much sooner than later, if they truly believe they can get D12 in a Nets jersey. If the answer is not definite, then it’s time for them to extend Lopez.