Even if this happens, how far will the Nets go? They still need another piece or two.
Agreed - the Nets don't have the supporting cast to contend.
Dwight Howard and Deron Williams are a dominant enough to duo to form the core to a contender though. It's just a question of adding the right role players. They don't have to have another star quality player to make a Big Three.
Okay, so salary wise, Dwight Howard is on $18 million and Brook Lopez is on $3 million so the Nets would be adding $15 million to their current payroll putting them at about $55 million. So no cap space unless they amnesty someone.
So say they amnesty Travis Outlaw, another $7 mil, $9-10 million in cap space overall. That should be enough for NJ to sign David West. He'd be a wonderful complement to both Deron and Dwight with his jump-shooting and scoring ability.
So a trio of Deron Williams + David West + Dwight Howard
Still, I am not sure there is enough around them. Jordan Farmar, a two guard duo of A.Morrow and M.Brooks, D.James at the three. No backup SF or PF yet. J.Petro backup C.
Hmm ... they could have, what, $2 million to round out their team plus that $2.5 million exception for teams under the cap. I don't know if they can get enough help to contend this year.
Certainly next season, they'll be right there competing for the crown.