The Nets and the Clippers

So I've been doing a lot of thinking about the Dwight Howard saga. And one thing I noticed was the similarities between two franchises: The Los Angeles Clippers and the New Jersey Nets.

There is an almost uncanny amount of parallels that can be drawn between these two teams.

The Clippers have always been the "little brother" team of their city. They've always been less famous, less successful, and less expensive than their big brother, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Clippers entered last season as an entertaining but losing team. They were led by a young star in Blake Griffin, and although they didn't win many games, they still had developing young pieces and had great hope for the future. Then, they pulled the trigger on a stunning trade, trading upcoming guard Eric Gordon, developing forward Al-Farouq Aminu, a decent center on an expiring contract in Chris Kaman, and a coveted first-round draft pick. Many people complained that the Clippers had given up too much to get their star, however Griffin and Paul compliment each other perfectly, and the investment has been more than worth the Clippers while. They are well on their way to upstaging their big brother, the declining LA Lakers. Additionally, during the offseason they added a solid veteran small forward in Caron Butler, along with a veteran guard in Chauncey Billups (now out for the season). They have a glut of guards with Eric Bledsoe, Paul, Randy Foye, and Mo Williams all manning the backcourt.

How does this relate to the Nets, you may ask?

The following paragraph could easily be written at this point next season:

The Nets have always been the "little brother" team of their city. They've always been less famous, less successful, and less expensive than their big brother, the New York Knicks. The Nets entered last team as a vaguely entertaining but losing team. They were led by a young star in Deron Williams, and although they didn't win many games, they still had developing young pieces and had great hope for the future. Then, they pulled the trigger on a stunning trade, trading upcoming guard Marshon Brooks, solid big men Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries, a decent center on an expiring contract in Mehmet Okur, some salary filler, and two coveted first-round draft picks. Many people complained that the Nets had given up too much to get their star, however Howard and Williams compliment each other perfectly, and the investment has been more than worth the Nets while. They are well on their way to upstaging their big brother, the New York Knicks. Additionally, in the trade they added a solid veteran small forward in Hedo Turkoglu, and in free agency they landed a veteran guard in Ray Allen. They have a glut of guards with Allen, Williams, Jordan Farmar, and Anthony Morrow all manning the backcourt.

There are almost too many similarities for this not to happen!! There's only one way this can end: with Dwight Howard in a Nets uniform. It will hurt to give up our homegrown young players, but just as it worked out for the Clippers, it will work out for us. People reference the Melo deal when saying not to gut the team for a superstar, but this is a much better comparison, as Paul and Howard are simply on another level.