Nothin' But Nets
Fansided

Brooklyn Nets: Dwight Howard’s 3 moments as a Net

By Phil Watson

BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 28: Dwight Howard #12 of the Charlotte Hornets looks on before a game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on February 28, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 28: Dwight Howard #12 of the Charlotte Hornets looks on before a game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on February 28, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets
SACRAMENTO, CA – JANUARY 2: Dwight Howard #12 of the Charlotte Hornets warms up before the game against the Sacramento Kings on January 2, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

1. Dwight Howard acquired by Brooklyn Nets

Dwight Howard was a Brooklyn Net. It’s true. It’s on his page at basketball-reference.com and everything!

Howard came to Brooklyn in a blockbuster deal that involved reuniting Timofey Mozgov’s contract with former Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, now GM of the Charlotte Hornets.

Because whenever you can saddle a GM with one of the bad deals that got him fired from his old job now that he found a new job, you just have to do it.

Reaction from fans on social media to the acquisition of Howard, an eight-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, was enthusiastic.

OK, so maybe “enthusiastic” was a reach.

But there was genuine excitement at shedding the contract of Mozgov, signed when the NBA salary cap spiked in 2016 and general managers spent money like lumberjacks getting out of the woods for the first time in six months.

The prospect of having cap space for not just one, but two, max contracts in the summer of 2019 was legitimately exciting for Brooklyn fans still in therapy for their PTSD over Billy King trading away the future of the franchise for 44 wins and a second-round playoff exit in 2013.

And if the price of that was acquiring Howard, who by all reports is only slightly less-liked by teammates than Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and that guy in front of me at the movie theater WHO WON’T PUT HIS (*%&_@ CELL PHONE DOWN … ahem, sorry, so be it.

As it turns out, that part wouldn’t be an issue.