Brook Lopez was disappointed earlier this season when the Nets didn’t offer him a contract extension. Then his name circulated the trade rumors, with offers from the Nets to send him to Orlando for Dwight Howard and to Milwaukee for Monta Ellis.

But Nets coach Avery Johnson said Lopez – who is out with a sprained ankle until at least Friday – isn’t holding a grudge.

“I think it’s already been mended,” Johnson said. “If your name is mentioned in trade rumors, we tell our guys, ‘Look at it as not so much an insult, but a blessing that other teams want you,’ It’s part of the nature of this business.”

via Stephan Bondy of the New York Daily News