Why we need to do whatever it takes to get Dwight

In my opinion, Billy King needs to do whatever it takes to get Dwight Howard on this team. MarShon Brooks? Sure. Kris Humphries? Absolutely. Whatever picks it takes? Done.

Here's why.

First of all, Dwight Howard as a player. To fully understand Dwight's impact, simply take a look at his Magic team. He carried a team with Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu (good, not great players) as their second and third threats to the NBA Finals. This current edition of the Magic has Ryan Anderson as its second best player, and even though he is improved, I think we all know he is no star. And yet they are still winning games.

This is quantified by stats: Howard is consistently among the league leaders in blocks and rebounds. However, this does not tell the whole story. If you watch the Magic play one game, it is apparent how hesitant guards and wings are to drive into Dwight's paint. He only blocks around 2 shots a game, but he alters more, and probably prevents even more from being taken just by being there.

Dwight Howard would compliment Deron Williams perfectly. Right now, Deron is driving the lane and simply being swarmed. He can't get his shot off and he can't make a pass to a guy who can score. Imagine Deron driving the line with Dwight there: big men wouldn't know what to do!! If you stay with Dwight, D-Will scores. If you help out on D-Will, then you have guaranteed a huge dunk on your head. There would be no way to defend it. Imagine the pick and roll with the two of them.

But even more importantly than Dwight's abilities as a player, is the consequences of not getting him. If we don't get Dwight, I think it's apparent that Deron will leave. You need only to watch a Nets game to see how furious D-Will is with the embarrassment that we send out onto the floor each night. He's gone if we don't get Dwight. He'll go to Dallas, which is his hometown, or almost anywhere else. Think: If you were D-Will would you want to go onto the floor with Johan Petro every night?

If the Nets get Dwight Howard, he and D-Will alone probably could not lift us past the Bulls or Heat. We'd probably be a three or four seed. But here's the thing: We'd still have our MLE and mini-MLE, plus we can sign players to the vets-min, and you'd better believe veterans would be looking to come here to take their last shot at a championship. Who knows, maybe a Kevin Garnett would be willing to sign here for the MLE after the season to team up with Dwight and D-Will. Look at the Heat: Shane Battier signed to play on the bench when he could have started somewhere else. People will want to come here. We will have room for growth. Even with just the two of them, anything can happen in a playoff series. Who knows, maybe we could topple them. But without Dwight, we wouldn't even have the chance.

I challenge any of you to come up with a plan to get us a team good enough to topple those two teams without including Howard. It can't be done.

We also cannot risk letting Dwight get to free agency. The risk of he and D-Will signing in Dallas and leaving us out to dry is just too high.

Without Dwight or D-Will, guess where we'd be? In the same place we were during the 12-70 year, which I'm sure no one wants to back to.

Listen, I love MarShon Brooks as much as anyone. But he's still only a rookie. He's still got work to do. If he's the difference between having Dwight Howard and not having Dwight Howard, you trade him, no questions asked. Same goes for Kris Humphries.

Dwight Howard is the clear-cut second best player in the league. Hump and MarShon are barely inside the top 100, if they are at all. It's simple math, we trade them to get Dwight if that's what it takes.

Bottom line: We must do WHATEVER it takes to get Dwight Howard here. If he doesn't come, we lose D-Will, and we'll be guaranteed to sink back into the abyss for the next five years. GET THIS MAN HERE.