Nets trade rumors: Brooklyn reportedly still targeting Dwight Howard

The Brooklyn Nets are still trying to figure out a way to land Dwight Howard, Chris Sheridan told WFAN. With the Los Angeles Lakers still floundering in the lottery places, Sheridan thinks they will have to consider moving the center before Thursday's trade deadline and that the Nets will make a hard run at him.

I think the Nets are going after Dwight Howard. That’s their No. 1 target. He’s been their No. 1 target for two years. Everybody in the NBA is well aware that the Lakers are a complete mess … Despite their denials...at a certain point they have to realize that this is a lost season for the Los Angeles Lakers.

With Brook Lopez playing the best basketball of his career, the Nets would have a piece to build a deal around for Howard, The question is whether Howard, with his ailing back, is worth what the Lakers will probably demand for him. Brooklyn would be putting a lot of trust in their doctors, who would almost certainly have to evaluate Howard's back and give the team the all clear before any deal is made.

If the Nets cannot or do not want to make a run at Howard, they may zero in on Josh Smith. The Atlanta Hawks forward is on the block and a source told Mark Stein that he believed the Nets would land Smith as part of a three-team deal.

Whoever the Nets trade for, if they trade for anyone, odds are that MarShon Brooks goes the other way. A talented player on a cheap contract, any team that gives up something of value to the Nets will probably demand that they get Brooks in return. Unsurprisingly, Brooks has been in trade talks for weeks, something he says he is used to at this point so it doesn't bother him.