If Dwight Howard isn’t traded to the Nets by the end of the week, the Nets will move on to their contingency plans and seek alternative means of filling out their roster, a person who has been briefed on the team’s thinking said.
“It won’t go past this week,” the person said, adding that while Howard is the No. 1 target, the Nets “have a Plan A, B, C and D.”
Plan B would appear to be free-agent center Nene, who has the same agent as Howard, Dan Fegan. Free agent Kris Humphries, who averaged a double-double for the Nets last season, would be one of the team’s other options.
The person said, however, that if the Nets walk away from a trade for Howard this week, it doesn’t mean they couldn’t make another attempt to trade for him during the season. The trade deadline is March 15.
via Colin Stephenson — Dwight Howard deal: Nets will move on if trade isn’t made by end of week
If the Nets wait it out and sign Nene to the reported 4-year, $64 million contract (I have to keep saying it to believe it), they’d have to involve a third team in any Howard trade to absorb Hedo Turkoglu’s contract. And no, Nene isn’t tradable for six months at that price, per the new CBA.
Yes, the Nets will move on without a deal, if only because they need to fill their roster. But if and when the opportunity arises, they will always come back to the table.
