NETS AND DWIGHT HOWARD RANKED AS ONE OF THE BIGGEST NEAR-TRADES

When the Nets first came to Brooklyn in search of building their brand with a new fanbase, they were hoping to make their debut in Brooklyn with a splashy move. The move that Brooklyn reportedly wanted to make did not ultimately come true, but it is still one of the topics being talked about to his day.

In an article by Mark Deeks of HoopsHype, he listed some of the biggest trade in NBA history that did not happen, such as the Chris Paul trade to the Los Angeles Lakers that was nixed by the league. One of the trades that Deeks listed in the group was basketball Hall-of-Famer Dwight Howard almost coming to the Nets at a time when the franchise wanted to build around a superstar.

Howard himself has recently spoken about the fact that he wanted to revive his career with Brooklyn instead of what happened which was the Orlando Magic trading him to the Lakers to pair with Kobe Bryant. "I didn’t want to go to the Lakers. I wanted to go to Brooklyn and just start my whole career over but I got sent to LA," Howard said during his appearance on the "Gil's Arena" podcast in August.

According to reports at the time of this potentially happening, then-Nets general manager Billy King was willing to offer four unprotected first-round picks along with Brooklyn franchise icon Brooklyn and forward Kris Humphries for a package including Howard, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark.

As mentioned above, Orlando decided to send Howard to the Lakers, allowing the Nets to sign Lopez to a four-year, $60.8 million max contract, paving the way for him to play for the organization for five more seasons before ironically leaving for the Lakers himself. It has been over 12 years since the rumors came out about Howard coming to Brooklyn, but one has to wonder what could have been given Howard's resume.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets and Dwight Howard ranked as one of the biggest near-trades

2024-09-07T14:59:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd