The Nets win the Dwight Howard trade, even if he’s terrible

Howard is an embattled star who’s fallen from grace. With a $23.8 million expiring contract, Brooklyn wins either way.

The Brooklyn Nets traded for Dwight Howard on Wednesday, sending two years worth $32.7 million of an unhappy Timofey Mozgov plus two future second-round picks to Charlotte for the former All-Star big man. Howard still has something left in the tank, averaging 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds last season, and at 32 years old, he’ll be an immediate upgrade at Brooklyn’s center slot.

But more importantly, the move follows the D’Angelo Russell splash last summer as yet another attempt by the Nets to slowly claw their way back to NBA relevance after a 2013 trade for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett robbed them of their future.

Here’s why the Howard trade makes sense, on several levels

Mozgov recently told a Russian news outlet he was unhappy with his lack of play time in Brooklyn. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a player making that much money. Rookie Jarrett Allen had become the starter, and Quincy Acy’s ability to casually stretch the floor earned him minutes at the five, too. There was no real pathway for Mozgov to get minutes in Brooklyn, so the Nets traded him to Charlotte.

In return, they got Howard, a player who hasn’t been the focal point of an offense since he left Orlando in 2013. Howard is no longer the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, nor the perennial All-Star he was during his heyday. He’s annoyed teammates on the way out at multiple stops, which explains why his value keeps plummeting.

But he is still a rebounding machine, adding to a Nets team that ranked ninth during the regular season on the boards, according to data from NBA.com. He’s still a serviceable rim protector, which should improve a Brooklyn defense that allowed the third-most points in the paint per game. (Howard himself exposed this weakness when he put up 32 points and 30 rebounds against Brooklyn last season). And he’s still a decent pick-and-roll finisher when he wants to be, a luxury D’Angelo Russell should appreciate as a lead guard who relies heavily on screens to generate offense.

Howard can occasionally score on the low block. He averaged 4.1 field goal attempts in the post per game, the fourth-highest average behind LaMarcus Aldridge, Joel Embiid and Kristaps Porzingis. Howard shot a respectable 47.1 percent on those attempts, a higher percentage than both Aldridge and Porzingis, though most of his attempts come closer to the rim than other players.

The NBA has undoubtedly moved away from post-up scoring in favor of threes and layups, but a big man who can command a double team is never a bad thing to have. If Howard can still command a double team down low, his value on offense — on a Nets team that attempted more threes than every team except the Rockets — immediately increases.

Even if he can’t, he’s not part of Brooklyn’s future plans, anyway.

Neither is his cap hit

Howard has one year left on the three-year, $70.5 million deal the Hawks gave him in 2015. His contract is scheduled to pay $23.8 million in the 2018-19 season, whereas Mozgov’s contract was for a year longer. That means when he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, the Nets will have in the ballpark of $65-80 million of cap space to play around with, depending on the salary cap figure a year from now.

That number has several variables, including the rookie contract for the 2019 draft pick they actually own (finally!), as well as cap holds on Russell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who each become restricted free agents next summer. Nets brass also probably isn’t done making moves this summer, and all signs point to them turning over every rock in an effort to move up from pick No. 29 (and 40, and 45) in this year’s top-heavy NBA Draft.

But Brooklyn has positioned itself to sign two maximum free agents next summer, which . they couldn’t do before. Some of the key free agents in next year’s free agent pool include Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Al Horford, Klay Thompson, Tobias Harris, Malcolm Brogdon and Harrison Barnes. An unlikely scenario includes premier superstars like Kevin Durant, LeBron James or Kawhi Leoanard exercising their player option, entering unrestricted free agency and joining forces in Brooklyn. With many other teams in difficult cap situations, that makes Brooklyn a threat on the market.

That’s a dream scenario that was laughable in the past and admittedly farfetched even now, but the Nets are no longer the NBA’s punching bag. NBA head coaches walk into the Barclays Center and understand a game against Brooklyn is a matchup with a scrappy team that hustles and fights on defense and bombards you with threes and screens on the other end. Brooklyn has shown improvement, going from 21 to 20 to 28 wins last season.

And at the very least, the Nets caught LeBron’s attention as a franchise trending in the right direction.

Howard likely won’t be in Brooklyn beyond this season, and a buyout, however unlikely, is always on the table. But if Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson can make Howard look good this season, their sales pitch to prospective free agents just got a lot easier.

And if it doesn’t work out? They’ll be starting from scratch next season either way.