The Brooklyn Nets can now be big free agency players by 2019-20

Landing former lottery pick D’Angelo Russell was a way to fill some seats at Barclays Center. However, after Wednesday morning’s trade, the Brooklyn Nets now have room to offer two max-contracts as early as next year

The Brooklyn Nets have been amongst the bottom feeders of the association in recent years. They haven’t played in the postseason since the AARP trio of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Deron Williams guided them there three consecutive times between 2012 and 2015.

With a trade early Wednesday morning, the Nets acquired a former star in Dwight Howard. At age 32, the man formerly known as Superman isn’t exactly part of a youth movement in Brooklyn. However, Timofey Mozgov (who was swapped for Howard) still had over $30 million left on his massive contract over the next two seasons and acquiring Howard, who offers far more on the floor than Mozgov, saved them $17 million.

Furthermore, Howard can act as a valuable mentor to 2017 first-rounder Jarrett Allen, as well as a valuable member of a supporting cast. The trade gave Brooklyn the flexibility to handle two max deals next summer, and two stars commanding max money next to solid pieces in D’Angelo Russell, Howard and Allen is a very intriguing proposition.

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Before they can worry about signing any free agents, the contracts of Allen Crabbe, Jeremy Lin and DeMarre Carroll need to be moved or, at a minimum, played out and not re-signed. Those three are due north of $45 million next season alone and Crabbe has an $18.5 million player option for the 2019-20 season.

If Carroll and Lin aren’t re-signed, $22 million instantly becomes available and thanks to this morning’s trade, an additional $17 million is available.

That’s a whopping $39 million that will be ready by the end of next season, when Brooklyn can make a push for big names in order to reach playoff contention.

With all of the buzz around Kawhi Leonard wanting out of San Antonio, it’s possible the Nets at least inquire about him. That being said, they’d be hard-pressed to outbid the trading power of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, who both are very interested in the small forward, for his services.

Kemba Walker may also be dealt from the Charlotte Hornets sooner rather than later. Eric Bledsoe could be sent off by Milwaukee. There are many more players that could be traded to the Nets and the financial flexibility available next season will make it possible to re-sign any acquisitions.

How Howard and Allen split time at center is a mystery but offloading Mozgov, future second-rounders and some cash for Howard was a no-brainer. Howard may only be in Brooklyn next season and allowed to walk so that the team opens up even more cap space and playing time for Allen. The team could even explore a buyout this season and hand Allen more playing time earlier.

The Brooklyn Nets can make a run at anyone on this list with all of the money they’ll have in 2019, featuring the likes of Kemba Walker and Klay Thompson, or this list in 2020, featuring a loaded class of Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Kevin Love, Kyle Lowry and more.

The point is, Brooklyn has a chance to be a serious contender by 2020 with all of the cap space they have as well as control of their first-round draft picks again next year for the first time in several years after the mega-deal with Boston to get Pierce and Garnett.

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Howard may not stay along for the ride but Russell almost certainly will and big-time free agents will have a chance to come to the Big Apple, get paid, and avoid dealing with James Dolan and the Knicks.

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