Brook Lopez Re-Signs With Nets, Kills Dwight Howard Deal

This should finally end all of the Dwight Howard to Brooklyn trade rumors...until January 15th.

According to the The Star-Ledger, Lopez and the Brooklyn Nets agreed on a maximum-salary contract of $61 million over four years.

The deal means the Nets are officially out of the Dwight Howard sweepstakes. Teams are not able to newly-signed players, other than sign and trade deals, until January 15th, 2013. Lopez will be Brooklyn's starting center at the opening of the 2012-13 season.

What does this mean for Dwight Howard? Is this a smart move by Brooklyn? Will Howard's asking price drop by January?

Howard appears to be the odd man out in Orlando. He has done everything but spit on the Magic franchise since he "injured" his back late last season and missed the playoffs. The big man has made it clear that he wants out and his relationship with the team is beyond fractured.

I look for Howard to realize he can't put a Magic jersey back on and forces a trade to another team. Magic fans will no longer embrace him and he has to go.

The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers have made it clear that they would like to trade for him, even if it's a rental for one season. Those teams believe they could entice Howard to sign a long-term deal once he is within the organization. Brooklyn made a similar gamble when they traded with the Utah Jazz for Deron Williams...he just signed a long-term deal to stay with Brooklyn.

The Nets are looking more and more like a playoff team. Their team currently has Lopez, Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallce, MarShon Brooks (who's underrated), and Mirza Teletovic in their rotation. This team looks like a top-five seed in the Eastern Conference.

I feel like this isn't the last time we will hear Dwight Howard & Brooklyn Nets in the same sentence, but this should end that trade rumor for a few months.

2009-10 NBA Preview: New Jersey Nets

The Nets have a lot of young talent and the trade that sent Vince Carter to the Magic loaded them up with even more youth. Can the Nets finish the season over .500? Can Courtney Lee develop into an All-Star? Will the Nets miss Vince Carter? Will Brook Lopez finally get his cookie? Here is the 2009-10 NBA Preview of the New Jersey Nets.

Additions/Subtractions - The Nets made a big trade in the off-season that sent Vince Carter to Orlando for Courtney Lee, Tony Battie, and Rafer Alston. Lee will be in the starting line-up, while Alston will add depth at point-guard by backing up Devin Harris. I like Battie off the bench, he was an asset for the Magic and Celtics. I love the drafting of Terrence Williams, he was a very good player at Louisville and can help this team as a rookie. He's a big of a goof ball, but this team needs some characters.

2009-10 Expectations - The Nets have went 34-48 the last two seasons and have finished above .500 since 2005-06. Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian, and Terrence Williams could be one of the best sets of young talent in the league. A few years from now, they could be competing in the East, but they are still all pretty green and they need some more experience under their belt. The expectations of this team is to possibly finish around .500 and make the playoffs as one of the last seeds. Lawrence Frank is one of the longest-tenured coach in the NBA and I don't expect that a rough season would end in getting fired, but if the ownership change happens, anything can happen.

2009-10 Prediction - The young talent on the Nets will start to mature this year and lead this team to a better record and a spot in the playoffs. I do worry about Rafer Alston coming off the bench, if he embraces the back-up role, he can help, but if he doesn't, he'll end up in the doghouse or on another team.

2009-10 Win Total - 42-40