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Four Things You Need To Know About The Potential Dwight Howard Mega Trade

Right now (as in, right this second) the Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers are having serious discussions regarding the über-blockbuster trade that would land Dwight Howard in Brooklyn and create a massive Nets bandwagon. Many reliable NBA reporters suggest that the deal is close to happening. Here’s everything you need to know.

1. The Nets are prepared to gut their roster for Dwight.

The Nets have to finagle things perfectly to get the salaries in a potential deal to match up, and have zero wiggle room. There aren’t many configurations that work within the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s provisions, and they’re prepared to take some extreme measures.

Here’s what we know:

As many as 14 players and four teams may be involved. It must be at least a three-team deal, because the Nets must trade Kris Humphries in order for salaries to work out perfectly, and the Magic don’t want him. So, a third team must take him, and that team looks like it will be the Cleveland Cavaliers.

We don’t know exactly who the Nets will give up, but their roster will be paper-thin if they pull off the deal. Here’s who we know is not being traded: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace and Mirza Teletovic. Everyone else on that roster is fair game. That includes Brook Lopez, Humphries and Brooks.

Chris Broussard is reporting that the Nets are likely to take Jason Richardson and his toxic contract off the Magic’s hands if the deal goes down. The Magic really want to rid themselves of Richardson’s contract, as well as Hedo Turkoglu’s. It seems likely that any completed deal will allow them to do that and acquire Lopez, as well as multiple first-rounders. That’s their endgame.

If this happens, the Nets will have Howard, Williams, Johnson, Wallace and Teletovic, for sure. Aside from that, nothing is guaranteed. Rookie Tyshawn Taylor hasn’t been mentioned in talks, so he may be on the roster. If Gerald Green isn’t included in the trade, the Nets likely won’t have enough money to re-sign him. (The Nets will be signing multiple players for the minimum to fill their roster.) Remember how shallow the Heat’s roster was post-”Decision?” That’s what the Nets are looking at if this deal becomes official.

2. The Cavs are replaceable.

A third team must be included, as I said earlier. But while the Cavs are that team as of now, the Nets are exploring back-up options. One team is the 76ers.

3. Don’t feel bad for Brook Lopez.

Yes, you’ve got to feel bad for Brook Lopez, who is a huge part of a potential deal that will make the Nets championship contenders. He’s sat through their period of misery and dealt with injury and health issues despite having a promising start to his career. But he’s getting paid. Lopez has to agree to a sign-and-trade, and he is apparently willing… provided there’s a max contract waiting for him on the other end of the deal. That maximum, if he’s traded to the Magic, is four years, $58 million. Not bad.

4. There are reasons to be skeptical.

Talks with the Lakers seem to have fizzled, since Andrew Bynum has made it clear he wouldn’t want to stay in Orlando long-term (he’s a free agent after next season). There are reports that Houston is still in the picture, too.

Also, Kris Humphries, as of now, does not want the one-year, $8/9 million-or-so deal that Cleveland would offer him. He’s seeking a four-year deal. He needs to agree or this can’t happen. This is a potential snag.

Clearly, there are a lot of moving parts, and there’s not much room for error. If one thing falls through, so does the trade. J.A. Adande reports that people might be overreacting, and the deal isn’t actually that close to happening.

It’s entirely possible that all this buzz is a smokescreen, from either side. The Magic have incentive to leak a potential deal in order to get other teams worried, so that they make better offers. The Nets have incentive to get other teams to make final offers, so this thing gets done. They need and want it done ASAP. If they can’t get Dwight, they need to move forward with Lopez, Humphries and Plan B (which is really Plan Z). We’ll keep you updated as the story progresses.

Oh, and the Nets and Magic are playing right now in the Summer League. The timing is just too perfect.

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