NBA trade grades: Hornets will deal Dwight Howard to Nets

Brooklyn Nets

UPDATE: According to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, the Nets will buy Dwight Howard out of his contract. This is still a win for the Nets, however, who will not be obstructing Jarrett Allen’s playing time.

The Nets should just start building the statue for Sean Marks outside the Barclays Center now. His ability to turn around a franchise that was completely depleted of resources is stunning, even if very few of his moves have been actual blockbuster deals. Marks is the NBA’s Rumpelstiltskin, spinning straw into gold time and time again.

For starters, the Nets are getting the best player in this deal. Though Howard will turn 33 years old in December and is no longer one of the game’s top centers, he’s far more useful than Mozgov, who played a grand total of 31 games last year. Howard, on the other hand, suited up for 81.

Perhaps most importantly, Marks managed to create a massive amount of cap space for 2019-20 by shedding Mozgov’s salary and trading it for Howard’s expiring:

Obviously the restricted free agencies of D’Angelo Russell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will eat into that projected $60 million of cap room next summer, but having two max slots is a win for the Nets either way. They’ll have room to re-sign two of their most important young players, and if they opt to go in a different direction, they’ll have plenty of money to work with.

Howard addresses some of Brooklyn’s needs in the short-term, and will help bolster their defense and their rebounding. The Nets ranked 25th in both defensive rating and rebounding percentage last year, so adding an experienced interior defender and the league’s fourth-leading rebounder will clearly help in both areas.

There may be concerns over Howard’s personality that seems to corrode the bond of every locker room, but he’ll only be there for one year, and this Nets’ roster is clearly still in flux. He’ll help Brooklyn get better on the court for a year, and then he’ll probably be gone.

https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/1009441928406896640

The only real downsides here are losing the No. 45 pick in this year’s draft (meh) and clogging up some of the frontcourt minutes that should be going to promising rookie Jarrett Allen. All things considered though, this is a winning move.

The Jahlil Okafor experiment was clearly a bust, and with Mozgov being a non-factor, this is an excellent deal that gets Brooklyn closer to being competitive again without sacrificing long-term flexibility. If anything, Marks ensured the Nets are more flexible moving forward and puts them in position to make some moves in 2020 free agency.

That may seem like a long time to wait, but considering where the Nets were when Marks first took the job, this kind of turnaround is truly impressive.

Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft - Final edition

Grade: A