What a difference a year makes. In the offseason we all thought Deron Williams and Dwight Howard would be leading Brooklyn into contention. Now, it's not Wiliams, it is Lopez making the Nets the second best team in the Eastern Conference.

Whether you agree with my take on where the Nets stand or not, one thing is clear is that Lopez is the leader of the team, our best player, and we're considering trading him for an injured center with less offensive skill, someone who cannot make free throws and therefore cannot be on the floor in crunch time, and who also has a history of creating problems everywhere he goes?

I don't even think I need to write more about this. We need to make an effort to keep Lopez on our team because this trade is a bad idea. Brook is the best center in the NBA and trending upward. Howard is looking the other way.