Brooklyn Nets: Grading the Dwight Howard trade

To kick off #DraftSZN, the Brooklyn Nets have traded Timofey Mozgov to the Charlotte Hornets for Dwight Howard. We grade the deal.

On the eve of the 2018 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn Nets have already made their mark on the offseason.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets have made the first notable deal of the summer, trading Timofey Mozgov and two second round draft picks to the Charlotte Hornets for Dwight Howard.

The two second rounders will be No. 45 this year and Brooklyn’s second in 2021, per Wojnarowski.

Trading two seconds for salary purposes is not always a great idea, but this is one of those instances. By offloading Mozgov’s albatross contract, the Nets can now create two max contract slots for next summer. The only significant contract on the books for 2019-20 as of right now is Allen Crabbe’s.

One year can change everything, but it stands to reason that the Nets could very well be on the rise by then. In an era where few teams have money, the Nets’ flexibility could be monumental.

Lest we forget, this front office is more than adept with handling money. Through the DeMarre Carroll and Crabbe trades, the Nets have obtained quality assets simply by incurring extra salary. General manager Sean Marks used this method as a very unique way to exploit the salary cap crunch, and exploited a market inefficiency in the process. To say the least, this money won’t go to waste.

Granted, most of this freedom is due to how many Nets contracts expire before then. For example, Joe Harris is ticketed for unrestricted free agency this offseason, as is the case with Spencer Dinwiddie next summer. D’Angelo Russell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are due for extensions this October, and if not extended, they will hit restricted free agency next summer. The same cycle applies to Caris LeVert a year later.

If those players can be retained frugally (or not at all), money will still be available in copious amounts. The ability to sign a quality free agent next summer is not out of the question.

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Free agents such as Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson and Kemba Walker will be available. Players of DLo and Hollis-Jefferson’s draft class will also face the same extension-to-restricted free agency cycle, such as Stanley Johnson, Justise Winslow and Trey Lyles. The Nets are sure to be in the running for a few of these players.

Additionally, the immediate return on this trade is not atrocious either. Dwight Howard, an occupant of about 45 teams in the past five years, is an expiring contract. That in itself is an asset come the trade deadline, when most of his salary will already be paid.

If Howard sticks around through the season, he will have a role on the Nets. However, considering his age and usage to this point in his career, I would not start him over Jarrett Allen. I understand the allure of featuring a former star, but Allen’s development is a priority at this stage. Head coach Kenny Atkinson shouldn’t overthink it.

At worst, the big man rotation is solved and the bottom line remains clean for the foreseeable future. At best, they use the cap space to obtain quality players to bolster the team. There is minimal downside to this deal.

For these reasons, and the potential for even better moves down the line, I give this trade a conditional A-. The trade itself was shrewd, but how they use this newfound flexibility will truly determine how beneficial it is.

Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft - Final edition

Grade: A-