The Charlotte Hornets have agreed to trade Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn Nets for Timofey Mozgov and two second round picks. Here are NBA Trade Grades for both sides. With the 2018 NBA Draft only a day away, the trade activity has begun. As first reported by ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Charlotte Hornets have agreed to send Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Timofey Mozgov and two second round draft picks. The first is Charlotte’s second round pick in this year’s draft, which comes in at No. 45, while the other is a 2021 second-rounder. The Hornets are in a delicate place, with a ton of bad contracts on their roster and a bona fide star in Kemba Walker who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Nets, meanwhile, are looking to start taking steps forward in their rebuild despite the bare cupboard general manager Sean Marks inherited. As Woj notes, the deal cannot be officially completed until July 6, when the moratorium ends and enough expiring money clears from Brooklyn’s salary cap sheet to make room for Howard’s contract. Nets Get C - Dwight Howard Hornets Get C - Timofey Mozgov No. 45 pick in 2018 NBA Draft 2021 2nd round pick The question is, what does this non-blockbuster trade mean for both sides? How did new Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak do in his first major move for the franchise, and what does Howard’s arrival mean for Brooklyn? To sort it out, here are NBA Trade Grades for both sides.<doc-sep>And BOOM! In fell swoop, the Nets finally got Dwight Howard, cleared more than $16.7 million in cap space for next year and traded away their unhappiest player. Again, it was Woj with the news. Charlotte is finalizing a deal to send Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn Nets for Timofey Mozgov, league sources tell ESPN. Nets will save $17M on deal in 2019-20 season, allowing them to create two max salary slots. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2018 The Nets also sent two second rounders and cash considerations to Charlotte, Woj reports... Deal includes Nets sending two future second-round picks and cash to Charlotte for Howard, who has a $23.8M expiring contract. https://t.co/v4sOImIHl2 — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2018 Woj later reported the two picks are this year’s second rounder —the 45th pick— acquired from the Bucks in the Tyler Zeller trade and the Nets own second in 2021. No word yet on how much of the Nets’ $5.1 million in cash is going to Charlotte. The deal can’t be completed until the free agency moratorium ends on July 6. The key for the Hornets was getting under the luxury tax threshold for this season. They were going into the season $4 million over the threshold. They save $7.7 million in the deal. Charlotte is one of the smallest markets and Michael Jordan the least rich of the NBA’s 30 owners so they had to do something. For the Nets, it’s more about next summer when they will have their own first round pick. With Howard coming off the books, along with Jeremy Lin and DeMarre Carroll, they could have as much as $70 million in cap space next summer. The Nets do lose cap space this summer, however, but still could have between $4.4 million and $6.4 million to play with, depending on what rights they renounce. Nets have just $33M projected on the books for 2019-20 (Crabbe $18.5M PO, Allen $2.4M TO, LeVert $2.6M TO, Whitehead $1.7M NG, 2018 1st), excluding 2018 2nds and 2019 1st. At the projected $108M salary cap, they can create $70M+ of cap room, enough for two max contracts. — Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) June 20, 2018 Howard, an eight-time All-Star, had his best season in years, averaging 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds —fourth best in the NBA— while missing only one game. The Nets also got rid of Mozgov who in addition to being a dead weight had repeatedly criticized Kenny Atkinson and the Nets for failing to communicate with him about their decision to bench him two weeks of the season. The deal has been in the works for at least a week, probably longer. At one point, rumors had the Nets wanting the Hornets first rounder, 11th overall, to take on Howard’s expiring deal. And Howard seemed to signal he knew about the talks, last week tweeting out video of his monster 30/30 game vs. Brooklyn in March. It seemed a bit too random. Already, NBA pundits see the trade as a coup for the Nets. Unless I'm missing something, Charlotte took on an extra year of Moz salary (19-20) and two seconds to maybe make sure they duck the tax in 18-19? (Nets have a bunch of extra 2nds). Absolutely brutal. Great deal for the Nets. https://t.co/anvtsRGR8F — Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 20, 2018 For those mistakenly thinking Dwight Howard is done: he just posted the best DREB% and lowest TOV% of his career. Major upgrade for @BrooklynNets. https://t.co/wYx2Dq7E8f — Howard Megdal (@howardmegdal) June 20, 2018 #SeanMarks dumping last two years & $32.7 million of #TimofeyMozgov deal just proves no contract is untradeable. Mozgov made it clear he was unhappy with Nets last season even before recent blog post, now question is if Howard will fit any better. He def will be more effective. — Greg Logan (@GregLogan1) June 20, 2018 There are a number of ironies here. It was Mitch Kupchak, the new Hornets GM, who signed Mozgov to his big albatross of a contract two years ago before he was let go by the Lakers. And of course, the Nets FINALLY get Howard after trying for him multiple times over the past seven years. The downside for the Nets is obvious. Despite his production —and star power— Howard keeps getting moved because of locker room issues. This is his sixth team in six years. He played for the Magic, Lakers, Rockets (with Jeremy Lin), Hawks and Hornets. The other issue is how much the addition of Howard will affect development of Jarrett Allen, the 20-year-old big man the Nets are so high on. Can they play together or as a tag team tandem?<doc-sep>Dwight Howard was once an MVP candidate. He was the first player in NBA history to win Defensive Player of the Year three times in a row. He was a franchise cornerstone piece that dominated in the pick and roll while protecting the rim with ferocity. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Hornets and Nets were finalizing a Howard trade on Wednesday where Brooklyn would receive the veteran big man in exchange for Timofey Mozgov and two second-round picks in a clear salary move. The Hornets are getting under the luxury tax while the Nets get an expiring contract to come off their books at the end of the 2018-19 season. According to SportsLine Data Scientist Stephen Oh, the Hornets are slightly worse following this trade, while the Nets get slightly better. The reported trade is not projected to have an impact on the two team's expected finish in the Eastern Conference. BROOKLYN WINS WIN% PLAYOFF% EAST Before Trade 29.8 36.3% 1.0% 13 w/ Howard 30.3 37.0% 1.5% 13 Impact +0.6 0.7% 0.5% -- CHARLOTTE WINS WIN% PLAYOFF% EAST Before Trade 34.3 41.8% 12.4% 10 w/o Howard 32.8 40.0% 7.0% 10 Impact -1.5 -1.9% -5.4% -- Howard has had a major fall from grace, being traded twice in two years, and far from being an All-Star-caliber player. However, despite this, he's still not a terrible player. His personality can be grating, but he still averaged a double-double for the Hornets and generally played well for them. He's not a star anymore, but he's a solid role player. Thus, when looking at a trade involving him, it's important to see him that way. Don't judge Howard for what he used to be, but what he is now. So how did each side fare in the deal? Let's grade the trade. Brooklyn Nets Receive: Dwight Howard For the Nets, there is nothing lost in this move. They move away from an unhappy Mozgov and his albatross of a contract for an expiring deal. Brooklyn didn't bring Howard in with intentions to win. Maybe he can help them win a few games, but that isn't his role for the Nets. He's nothing more than a giant expiring contract to be used for salary cap relief at a later point. Once his contract expires, it's likely the Nets will move on from Howard due to the fit among other things. Brooklyn is a team that wants to develop young players, play fast and shoot 3-pointers. Howard's skillset doesn't match the Nets' at all. He's slower than he used to be and has an obsession with playing in the post. He's too slow to get back on defense on misses and if a team commits to it they can run him off the floor. He's still solid in the pick and roll, a great rebounder and a solid defender. Howard isn't a bad player. His faults are just magnified on teams that play a style similar to Brooklyn. He's going to take minutes away from younger players that need them and Howard doesn't have the personality to enjoy sitting on the bench. The ideal outcome would be it the two sides can work out a buyout of some kind. All of that said, the future salary gain alone and the dumping off Mozgov's contract is well worth the minor headaches making Howard fit will cause. The two second-rounders included won't hurt them much either. The Nets made a good trade. Grade: B- Charlotte Hornets Receive: Timofey Mozgov Two future second-round picks Let's not think about this too hard. Howard was fine in Charlotte from an on-the-court perspective, but he wasn't good enough to help bring the Hornets to the playoffs. If he can't do that, then he's not worth the headache and locker room issues that usually come with him. The Hornets made this move to get under the luxury tax line and move on from a player who was never the best fit in the first place. They get some second-round picks out of the deal, and have to take on Mozgov's contract, but that's all minor compared to the overall goal of avoiding the tax. In that sense, the Hornets got what they wanted out of the deal. However, does moving Howard indicate a bleaker future for Charlotte? The Hornets don't have a roster capable of making the playoffs consistently and more changes feel necessary. This reported trade could be the first of many more moves to come over the offseason. The deal itself is inoffensive and the Hornets aren't going to be penalized too much for it. It's not a good trade for them, but there isn't really a reason to consider it a bad one either. That's what happens when a move is made for salary and tax reasons. Grade: C-<doc-sep>Nets get: Center Dwight Howard Hornets get: Center Timofey Mozgov, 2018 second-rounder (No. 45) and a 2021 second-rounder Get more trade grades for every deal here From the Nets' standpoint, this is an interesting exchange of cap space this summer for more of it in 2019. At $23.8 million in the final year of a three-year contract that has already taken him to three different teams, Howard makes $7.8 million more than Mozgov (also joining his third team in three years on his current contract). However, Mozgov is also under contract for $16.7 million in 2018-19, and with this trade Brooklyn just cleared all of that as cap space. So basically, the Nets have doubled their cap dollars, assuming they did not plan to stretch Mozgov's contract at any point. That's not necessarily as huge a win as it sounds, because cap space is so limited throughout the league this year. I estimate that a dollar will buy twice as many wins this summer as it will in 2019, when Brooklyn will have plenty of competition for free agents. From a timing perspective, the Nets angling to be players in the summer of 2019 makes more sense. For the first time since trading for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce on draft night five years ago, Brooklyn actually holds its own first-round pick, meaning there's no rush for the Nets to improve this season. Brooklyn can be a much bigger player in free agency next summer, when the team has just one player currently under contract for more than $2.7 million, wing Allen Crabbe. At this point, the Nets project to have up to about $65 million in cap space, which would be enough to make max offers to two players with 7-9 years of experience, such as Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard. (To get there, the team would have to renounce cap holds for restricted free agents Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and D'Angelo Russell, who are extension-eligible this summer entering the final season of their rookie contracts.) Alternatively, Brooklyn could also consider making use of Howard, DeMarre Carroll ($15.4 million, with plenty of on-court value) and Jeremy Lin ($12.5 million coming off a ruptured patella) as three of the largest expiring contracts available before the 2019 trade deadline. Thus far, we've treated this strictly as an exchange of salaries. The difference is that while Mozgov's salary provided almost no value -- in fact, he rated 0.7 wins worse than replacement level last season now that I'm adjusting for the higher replacement value of centers -- while Howard can still play. Even with that adjustment to reduce the value of centers, Howard still posted 5.0 wins above replacement player (WARP) during his lone season in Charlotte, though he doesn't figure to be as effective going forward at age 32. The downside for the Nets is that Howard also still expects to start and be a big part of the team. That could be an impediment to the development of second-year center Jarrett Allen, who showed promise last season as a lob finisher (he shot 60 percent on 2-point attempts) and shot-blocker (he was slightly more prolific at blocking shots per attempt than Howard). There's also the issue of bringing Howard into the locker room of a team relatively short on veteran leadership. So on balance, it might be slightly better for Brooklyn if Howard were merely a contract. Those concerns aside, this is still a winning deal for the Nets in the long run. They're set up to have a much more interesting summer in 2019. From the Hornets' perspective, the financial incentives in this deal were reversed. After adding Howard last summer, Charlotte was feeling the squeeze of the luxury tax. The Hornets projected to enter this offseason with about $750,000 in wiggle room below the tax and just 12 spots on the roster filled. Something had to give. The question is whether new GM Mitch Kupchak made the right sacrifice to get there. The $7.8 million saved in this trade will allow the Hornets to use most of their non-taxpayer midlevel exception to fill out the roster and still avoid the tax. The cost is twofold: swapping Howard for Mozgov has weakened Charlotte's center rotation, and adding Mozgov's $16.7 million salary for 2019-20 limits the Hornets' flexibility a year from now. In fact, Charlotte now finds itself in a worse position than one year ago, when the Hornets swapped the similar but smaller contract of Miles Plumlee (who makes $12.5 million each of the next two seasons) along with expiring salaries for Howard. Plumlee provides slightly more on-court value than Mozgov and will make less money, so they would have been better off just standing pat than making the combination of trades. Charlotte did add depth at center in the meantime by acquiring Willy Hernangomez from the New York Knicks at the trade deadline. Despite defensive limitations, Hernangomez (who recently turned 24) was overqualified as a third center, averaging 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in just 16.8 minutes per game over the final 13 games of last season after the Hornets shut down Cody Zeller. Clearing a rotation spot for Hernangomez is the best part of this deal for Charlotte. At the same time, the Hornets need ample depth at center because of Zeller's injury history. He played just 33 games last season, experiencing soreness in his left knee after undergoing surgery on the meniscus in that knee in December. Howard's presence helped Charlotte stay afloat without Zeller; the team went 22-27 in games he missed during 2017-18 (a .449 winning percentage) after winning just three of the 20 Zeller sat out in 2016-17 (.150). If and when Zeller misses time next season, the Hornets' options at center besides Hernangomez are unappealing. They could play Mozgov, whom Kupchak liked enough to sign to this albatross contract as GM of the L.A. Lakers two summers ago. (Mozgov's contract was surely one of the reasons Kupchak lost his job shortly thereafter.)<doc-sep>
Dwight Howard is reportedly headed to Brooklyn after the Nets reached an agreement with the Hornets. Was the deal worth it? The Crossover grades the first trade of the NBA offseason. That rumbling you feel in your legs is the first trade of the summer. Though it’s not quite a blockbuster, a few heads were scratched Wednesday when the Hornets agreed to trade Dwight Howard to the Nets for Timofey Mozgov and some second-round picks. (Woj had the details first.) The move helps create cap space sooner for the Nets, while also allowing the Hornets to stay comfortably under the luxury tax threshold. Was the move worth it for both teams? Let’s grade the deal. Hornets: D+ Hmmm, Charlotte was scheduled to be around $2 million below the tax line this summer, and that would have been before making any moves. So it makes sense for the Hornets to want to dump salary. But Howard was a productive player last season, and shipping away his expiring contract in return for a center who will barely play that adds $16 million in salary for the 2019–20 season is a tough pill to swallow. Maybe no one in the league really appreciated him, but Howard was decent last year—he should’ve have fetched more value. The Hornets were 3.6 points per 100 possessions better with Howard on the court in 2018, showing he could still be a positive force. The move theoretically opens up more playing time for Cody Zeller, but also leaves Charlotte thin at center, unless Frank Kaminsky will move there full time. In the summer of 2019, the Hornets could potentially have over $90 million in committed salary, and that’s before an extension for Kemba Walker. The Hornets are stuck in no-man’s land, and their rebuilding strategy (or lack of one) doesn’t quite make sense. This was a team already straddled with bad contracts. Taking on more money in 2019 instead of trying to find a better return for Howard (or trading someone else) just to duck the tax seems too short-sighted. Blowing it up completely seemed like a better play for Charlotte. Taking on more future salary without acquiring any meaningful assets for a productive player is not the best start to the offseason. NBA Draft Dispatch: Latest Trade Rumors and Intel on Luka Doncic, the Hawks and More Nets: A Why not? The move gives Brooklyn a decent center and allows it to move on from the Jahlil Okafor experiment and Quicny Acy. Howard can theoretically be a good pick-and-roll partner for D’Angelo Russell, but we’ve said that about Howard for every point guard he’s played with and his commitment to that play waxes and wanes with the moon. What’s most important for the Nets and GM Sean Marks is the trade makes them a player in 2019 free agency. Brooklyn should have big-time cap space next summer—enough to sign a couple superstars if they punt on Russell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson—and the Nets actually own their first-round picks after the upcoming draft. After taking on bad contracts to acquire picks and assets, Marks can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Dumping Mozgov, a non-factor, speeds up Brooklyn’s ability to become competitive again. The Nets will probably want one last tank this upcoming season, and Howard’s expiring deal could potentially be flipped again down the road. Whatever the case, after inheriting the barest cupboard in the league, Marks finally has the Nets on a level playing field. Brooklyn may still be one year away from trying to assemble something resembling a contender, but the turnaround happened pretty quickly considering the circumstances.