NBA Rumors: Why Dwight Howard Makes New Jersey Nets Better Than New York Knicks

The New Jersey Nets are on the fence of either becoming a force in the Eastern Conference or remaining a mid- to bottom-feeding team.  This all rides on Dwight Howard.

If the Nets are able to acquire the best center in the game, they will go into Brooklyn with so much excitement and truly be able to compete with the New York Knicks as the top team in New York.

Better One-Two Punch

The New York Knicks team is focused on their two big stars, Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire.  Right now the key to the Nets is their star point guard Deron Williams, and Howard would immediately share that load in New Jersey.

The duo of Deron Williams and Dwight Howard is better than the Knicks' duo of Carmelo and Amar'e.  The Nets' duo would have to be more preferred especially long-term because Williams and Howard play the two most important positions.

Not to mention, Howard is the best center in the NBA hands down and Williams is probably the best overall point guard in the NBA.  Both of these players are entering their prime years.

Defense

It is no surprise that the Knicks do not play defense.  The addition of Tyson Chandler will absolutely help the Knicks on the defensive side of the court.  

However, Dwight Howard is obviously a better defender than Chandler.  Howard is the reigning three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and Chandler has never won the award.  This just shows that basically the only player that will play defense on the Knicks and their top defensive player is not as good as the Nets' best defender.

Also, Deron Williams' game includes playing strong defense.  Williams is a very physical player and his defense shows how physical he is.

Injuries

Unlike many other sports like football or baseball, if a key player on an NBA team gets hurt it could be devastating to the team.  It is difficult for a team that carries around 12 players on their roster to replace a superstar that goes down from injury.

Amar'e Stoudemire is definitely one of the best players in the NBA.  He is also one of the most injury-prone players as well.  Amar'e has missed significant time with knee, back and eye problems.  The chances of Stoudemire missing time in an NBA season because of an injury are pretty high.  This year's demanding 66-game season will only increase his chances of getting hurt.

Carmelo Anthony has already hurt himself to start this season.  He has missed multiple practices because of his injury to his left knee.  Although it doesn't seem too serious, he still is missing crucial time on the court practicing with a team that he is still new too.

Deron Williams had a small nagging wrist problem last year with the Nets but it does not seem to be a problem.  He has never missed a significant amount of time due to injuries.

Dwight Howard is one of the most durable players in the league.  He has only missed a total of seven games in his seven years in the league and those missed games were mainly to just rest him and keep him fresh.

Average Games per Season for Teams' Top Players

Amar'e Stoudemire: 66 games

Carmelo Anthony: 73.8 games

Tyson Chandler: 66.2 games

Deron Williams: 75 games

Dwight Howard: 81 games

Players Around the Stars

For both the Nets and the Knicks, a main issue for them over the past decade or more has been having a dominating big man.  When the Knicks were contenders in the '90s they had Patrick Ewing.  When the Nets were appearing in back-to-back finals with Jason Kidd, they failed to win either finals matchups because they lacked a dominating center.  

The Nets have drafted a rising star center in Brook Lopez, who has been their best player before D-Will showed up.  The flaw with Lopez's game is his defense and rebounding, which are the key attributes for a "dominating" center.

The Knicks have recently signed Tyson Chandler.  He will provide them with the defensive center that they have needed.

The two hardest positions to fill your team with is point guard and center.  With Howard, the Nets will be able to have possibly the two best players at those positions.  The Knicks, on the other hand, have found a pretty good center and have two good forwards in Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire.  

It will be easier for the Nets to add key pieces for the 2, 3 and 4 positions than it will for the Knicks to add a solid point guard to run their offense.  The Knicks are locked up with the three contracts of Carmelo, Amar'e and Chandler, whereas the Nets have cap room to spare.  It is much easier for the Nets to add a good swingman because they are easy to find in this league, and with Howard and Williams, big-time players will be attracted to the idea of playing on the Nets.

Not to mention, the Nets will be getting Hedo Turkoglu in the Howard deal, and have Anthony Morrow and Jordan Farmar on the team already.  These players are all very good three-point shooters.  Kris Humphries will also most likely return to the Nets and he was one the best power forwards in the league last year.