NBA Rumors: Acquiring Nene and Dwight Howard a Fairytale for New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets have been rumored to be in play on a lot of top free agents and potential trades for so long that it all just becomes white noise until something actually happens. The latest news could have them going after both Nene and Dwight Howard, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
The Nets have been negotiating with Nene's camp ever since the league got back into business, but nothing has come of it so far.
According to ESPN's Marc Stein, Nene likely isn't going to make his decision until Howard and Marc Gasol resolve their situations one way or another. We know that Gasol is staying in Memphis, but Howard is another story.
Orlando may or may not be trying to trade him, and he may or may not want to be traded. But even if Howard does want to go somewhere, the odds of the Nets being able to land him and Nene as a warped package deal doesn't work.
There is no indication that Nene is even going to sign with the Nets. Four days ago, Bondy reported that the Nets appeared to be close to a deal after upping their offer for the 29-year-old.
Yet here we are on December 13 and he still hasn't signed on the dotted line. If Nene really wanted to play for New Jersey, he would have signed the second they increased their offer.
Maybe acquiring Howard would be the thing that brings Nene closer to the Nets, but I would be shocked to see Orlando deal him before the season starts, and it would be a horrible business decision for Nene to wait until after the season starts to sign a contract.
It is nice to speculate about what moves the Nets may be trying to make, but when push comes to shove, most of them will be just talk. Howard and Nene together falls into that category and the Nets will have to search for other ways to convince Deron Williams to sign a contract extension.
