(Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports)
Last summer, the Brooklyn Nets were one of a few teams that seemed like they would do whatever it takes to land Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. Obviously, they failed to bring the center on board as he was eventually shipped to the Los Angeles Lakers and even though Howard’s name is being thrown around in trade talks once again–the Nets need to do whatever it takes to avoid thinking about this trade.
At the moment, Brooklyn is arguably one of the hottest teams in the NBA as they head into Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks riding a seven-game winning streak and currently sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. With a lineup that already consists of a strong nucleus of Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson, and Kris Humphries, bringing on a dramatic player like Howard would ruin this team’s chemistry–which is the last thing they need to be dealing with.
Plus, when comparing the centers from a statistical standpoint–it almost seems like a no-brainer for Brooklyn. Sure, there was a time when any team in the league would do whatever it takes to land a talented player like Howard considering he’s one of the top defenders in the NBA and is pretty much a double-double machine, but that’s been far from the case during the 2012-13 season.
Howard may be averaging more rebounds than Lopez, but the Nets center makes up for it in points as he’s averaging 25.2 points per game this season–which shows this team doesn’t need to call the Lakers anytime soon.
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