The Brooklyn Nets continue #winning the off-season, as the rumor mill surrounding their possible acquisition of Dwight Howard heated up considerably over the weekend.
With Howard reportedly dead-set on joining Deron Williams in Brooklyn, the Nets have been trying to find a third team to the deal in order to give Orlando the cap room and draft picks they want to begin a full-scale rebuilding process:
A key component of the proposed deal with Orlando would be finding a third team to take the Nets' Kris Humphries in a sign-and-trade arrangement. Cleveland has emerged as a "possible destination" for Humphries in such a scenario, in which the Nets would attempt to accumulate at least three first-round picks to send to the Magic in their package for Howard, one of the sources said.
Dallas, which has cap space but no great future assets in terms of draft picks or young players, can only wait and hope the deal falls apart as the Nets assemble the super-team based around Howard and Williams the Mavericks were hoping to build.
But while the buzz and chatter around Howard's move to the Big Apple has been deafening, it's still very far from a done deal, especially on Orlando's end. The Mavericks, if they are going to have any hope of luring Howard in the off-season, need Howard to either stay with the Magic or go to a team like the Houston Rockets that he has no interest in re-signing with.
That scenario is still possible, but it's looking increasingly grim by the day.
For all the latest news and notes on the Mavericks free agency plans, stay tuned to the SB Nation Dallas story-stream as well as Mavs Moneyball.