Nets acquire Dwight Howard from Hornets

Dwight Howard has finally made his way to Brooklyn.

Six years have gone by since Howard requested a trade from the Magic to the Nets. His request went out the window when he opted into his contract and eventually ended up in Los Angeles.

The Nets have acquired Howard from the Charlotte Hornets for Timofey Mozgov and two second-round picks. Brooklyn is sending the 45th pick in this year's draft along with a 2021 second-rounder.

The deal saves the Nets $16,700,000 in cap space next offseason, allowing them to create two max salary slots. Charlotte would have been over the luxury tax this season and took on Mozgov's salary for an extra year to avoid that.

It's hard to be critical of this deal in any way on Sean Marks' end. He unloaded a contract that was called untradeable by many without giving up any real assets. He also brought back a player for this season who is immensely better than Mozgov.

A number of salary dumps have been linked to the Nets as they tried to move up in the draft. The one constant theme in any deal was that Marks only wanted to take on an expiring salary in order to maintain cap flexibility for the 2019 offseason.

Marks continues to impress with his savvy moves. Since coming in as the Nets GM two seasons ago, he has continuously manipulated the salary cap in quality deals. This trade could end up being the best of his tenure with Brooklyn.

The Nets could still be looking to trade up in the draft. DeMarre Carroll's expiring contract and Spencer Dinwiddie's bargain deal open up a number of possibilities.

Don't be surprised if Marks has another move up his sleeve ahead of Thursday's draft.