A high priority for the Nets in the offseason will remain a starting power forward, with unrestricted free agents Kevin Garnett of the Celtics and Ersan Ilyasova of the Bucks leading targets.

Of course, there is the Deron Williams factor as the Nets move to Brooklyn. Williams, who has missed two games with a sore calf and whose status for Saturday night’s game in Milwaukee will be updated this morning, is at the core of the move with his impending free agency after the expected opt-out of his final contract year. The thinking has been: Get (Dwight) Howard, keep Williams for sure.

So Howard’s back issue, one of the avalanche of injuries that socked the league in its asinine shortened-with-little-preparation schedule, forces the Nets and Magic to re-plot strategies. There are best-case scenarios: Howard is healthy, becomes a Net and both Williams and Gerald Wallace stay. There are worst-case scenarios: Howard doesn’t arrive, Williams and Wallace leave.

via Fred Kerber of the New York Post