Before the Los Angeles Lakers acquired All-Star center Dwight Howard via trade back in August, the Brooklyn Nets appeared to be the frontrunners to land the superstar center.

Howard made it clear he wanted a trade to the Nets, and it only seemed a matter of time before he got his way.

Unfortunately for the Nets, working out a deal with the Orlando Magic failed to reach an agreement. Once the deal seemed like it was never going to follow through, Nets GM Billy King made the executive decision to re-sign Brook Lopez to a long-term deal.

According to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com, King wasn't the only member of the Nets organization that knew Howard wasn't coming to Brooklyn.

"One thing Deron did say to me, he said, 'Please, just don't wait on Dwight. We can't wait and not have a team,'" King said during the premiere of NBA TV's "The Association: Brooklyn Nets," which will air on Oct. 16.

The fact that Williams was content with the Nets pulling out trade talks for Howard is somewhat a surprise, but it may be advantageous to the Nets in the long run.

As a consolation, the Nets were able to re-sign Lopez, Kris Humphiries and Gerald Wallace all while bringing in Joe Johnson via trade. They also added C.J. Watson, Andray Blatche and Josh Childress through free agency.

Though they don't have Howard on their roster, the Nets still have a legitimate roster to make some noise in the Eastern Conference.

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