8. "Exactly... Not to mention D12 made the Nets miserable last season" In response to Reply # 2
with his flip flopping crybaby attention whore act
They lost out during the "dwightmare" rewarded Lopez with a contract and he has rewarded them by playing great, a game out of first and a serious all-star bid. Like you said, 3 games younger, don't have to take him off the court late in games because he hits free throws, he's blocking shots.
If the Lakers offered it straight up you have to seriously consider, but no way do you offer the same package you offered last year
3. "I think people are getting caught up in the moment" In response to Reply # 0
Or rather, his behavior during the last two and a half seasons hasn't endeared anyone to him.
It's pretty clear, offensive issues or not, that Howard's a considerably better player than Lopez. But Dwight's a cornball and he acted like a supreme chump during the Orlando Magic debacle, so I guess maybe people think he's not worth having on the team. Which is wrong.
I can sorta see that Dwight's had injury issues as of late (as in the last season and a half) and is three years older and considerably more NBA miles on him, but having Dwight Howard now would make the Nets immediately better. And if they're trying to win right now, he'd help their chances.
12. "the current version of D12 doesn't really make the Nets markedly better" In response to Reply # 3 Wed Jan-23-13 06:15 PM by Bombastic
That might sound crazy but if you've watched this man play this season (I've seen probably 70% of his games in full), you'd realize the guy you're seeing is far below the Dwight Howard that people have in their minds from the height of his Magic days.
What you have right now is a guy whose weaknesses have become more glaring (free throws, complete lack of offensive post moves, turnovers, low basketball IQ, attitude) while his strengths (HGH potency, ability to mask defensive weaknesses, durability, freakish athleticism) have been noticeably all but absent.
I can't say the Lakers couldn't win at least 17 of their first 41 games swapping out him for this year's Lopez or that the Nets would be winning more than 61% of their games with this version of Howard.
Now based on the potential upside of a rejuvenation with a team that's already filled with big contracts from here on out for awhile, I'd take the plunge with him moving forward if I'm the Nets.
But for a guy who will be in his tenth season starting with his re-up (Bird rights tie-in with a max-max contract upcoming) who you will have to start paying at 15 million in his first year escalating up to something like 25-30 million heading into a six-year deal, that would scare the shit out of me as a GM because if he continues to be the Dwight Howard of the past two years with back issues & beneath the rim game without a skill-set that goes with it......he will get your ass fired like he already has two GMs & two coaches in less than a year.
He's been so bad that as a Laker hater & as a guy who enjoys watching Dwight Howard fail nowadays almost as much as I did/do my three least favorite NBA superstars of all-time (Karl Malone, Scott Pippen, Kobe Bryant) I'm gradually starting to believe him staying in L.A. might work in my favor as a hater.
Quite simply, Dwight Howard isn't very good right now, 'best center in the league by default' is the absolute most you could say about him in a complimentary fashion and that 'Top 3 player' ship has been lost at sea for going on two years.
23. "welp, pretty sure mamba would rather have lopez" In response to Reply # 0
------------------------- “The other dude after me didn’t help my case. It was just like…crazy nigga factory going on.” Dre makes no apologies for his own eccentricities. “I was young, and searching, trying to find myself,” he says. “Never did.”-- Andre B
24. "HOLD UP - some things have changed" In response to Reply # 0
National media attention forms the argument so much - Brook Lopez is having a fine season, he merits being an All-Star selection - this will give him recognition nationwide. Also Lopez has only ever played on terrible teams in New Jersey, once he makes his play-off debut in Brooklyn later this year he will get further recognition.
I'm a long suffering Nets fan. I've followed Lopez's career since we drafted him. He has always been stellar on the offensive end and he is without doubt the best offensive centre in the NBA. The game i saw him live at court side my friend (supporting the Raptors) turned to me and said "I never knew Lopez was this good". Everyone will say this once they see more of him in big matches.
What has kept Lopez down is his defence which i will admit has been below average since he has been in the league. He has made strides this season in improving especially weak side and he has improved as a shot blocker. His rebounding is sub-standard for someone 7ft tall but he is playing with PFs (Hump and Reggie Evans) who specialise in rebounding, taking away some of potential boards for Lopez.
Before last season he had barely missed a game in his three seasons and then last season he gets a freak injury putting him out for almost all the season and gets labelled injury prone, SMH. National media commentators knowing fuck all.
Brook is playing the best season of his career. Dwight is playing the worst. And their numbers are very close apart from Brook is playing SEVEN minutes less per game than Dwight. Dwight Howard is averaging 36 mins a game. Brook Lopez is averaging 29 mins a game.
Dwight’s offensive and rebounding numbers are right around his career averages. It’s his defensive effort which has fallen off. There aren’t stats to demonstrate where Dwight has fallen off and where Lopez has risen. Thus their stats appear close, but their effect on the game is much different.
No-one knows how Dwight will fare next season and beyond. Is he going to be back to Superman status or is he going to be a shell of himself yet one costing $100 million +.
The thing everyone can agree on Brook Lopez is improving and has not yet reached his prime.
I do agree both front offices would sign Dwight over Lopez in a second if they knew that Dwight was going to be the athletic monster he used to be but no-one can tell if he is going to return to that. The Lakers have a very big decision to make this off season about what contract to offer him. And we know from the past couple of seasons Dwight is all about the money in his new contract.
Dwight has worn out any desire from Nets fans to be part of our team and at the same time the Nets fans love Lopez who has played hard for them since he was drafted. Dwight had the chance to be a Net all of last season and fucked us by signing the ETO (or whatever) with the Magic at the trade deadline. Our front office has moved on. That is why we gave Hump the big contract to use him as a trade piece in the future. There is even talk of the Nets giving Greg Oden a guaranteed contract (even if its small).
Part of the reason Lopez doesn't get treated as a star is because he is a goof ball who loves comic books, he is not athletic, he doesn't chase publicity.
I firmly believe the Nets are not interested in Dwight anymore.