NBA Trade Rumors: Is Dwight Howard That Much Better Than Brook Lopez?

Photo Credit: Bridget Samuels, Flickr.com

Dwight Howard continues to be shopped around by the Orlando Magic and the on again/off again trade between the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets has reached another standstill.

The original rumored four-way trade looked like this:

Brooklyn receives Howard, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark.

Orlando receives Brook Lopez, Luke Walton, Damion James, Shelden Williams, Armon Johnson and three first-round picks.

Cleveland receives Kris Humphries, Quentin Richardson, Sundiata Gaines, a first-round pick and $3 million in cash.

Los Angeles receives MarShon Brooks.

My question among all this mess is would Dwight Howard be worth it? Is he that much better than Brook Lopez?

Looking at their per-36 minute averages in their careers through their last healthy season (2010-11) they are a lot closer than you’d think.

Dwight Howard  57.8 FG%, 59.8 FT%, 18.2 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 2.2 BPG
Brook Lopez  50.4 FG%, 80.1 FT%, 18.3 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.8 BPG

I’m not implying that Lopez is better than Howard by any stretch but is he so bad? Does he provide the Nets that much more of a chance to win the championship?

I don’t think he’s worth the drama and certainly not worth the asset drain that the Nets will incur to acquire him.