Even while the Dwight Howard soap opera drags on…and on, and on, the Brooklyn Nets continued their busy offseason, following up their acquisition of shooting guard Joe Johnson with the . The Nets held off a strong bid from the Mavericks, who were hoping to lure Williams back to his hometown. With those hopes dashed, to former Mavs point guard Steve Nash and New York Knicks wonderboy Jeremy Lin.
Having secured their backcourt, the Nets will now . The All-Star center had seemingly fell out of reach after the Johnson deal, but multiple reports indicate that the Nets are ready to throw a package including three first-round picks in an effort to bring him to the Big Apple. While Howard has reportedly indicated he won’t sign a contract extension with any other team but the Nets, but that hasn’t stopped Orlando from pursuing a deal with the Lakers for center Andrew Bynum.
Elsewhere:
* has signed a four-year, $58-million offer sheet with Phoenix, but will reportedly match.
* are all making strong pushes to sign Nash, while .
* Having been foiled in their attempt to sign Deron Williams, the Mavericks are to pursue Chris Paul and Howard next year.
* Milwaukee power forward Ersan Ilyasova has .
* Lin will reportedly .
* And, finally, no roundup would be complete without news that . Harangody will get $1.1 million after averaging 2.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game last season. Long live the NBA!
