For the first time in a long time, the Nets’ weakness won’t be power forward.

They acquired a quality big man and proven double-double performer, getting Troy Murphy from Indiana in a four-team trade that sent Courtney Lee to Houston.

Now shooting guard may be a little weaker, so it’s up to Terrence Williams and Anthony Morrow to seize the opportunity, produce and defend.

But getting Murphy – after Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer said no in free agency – is a major upgrade at power forward where the enigmatic Yi Jianlian spent two injury-plagued seasons for the Nets. Murphy will mentor rookie Derrick Favors - who the Nets believe will be an All-Star in the future - and complement Brook Lopez in the upcoming season.

The Nets have a productive, starting-caliber power forward now. They got better with this deal and added flexibility with Murphy’s contract expiring after the season. They could have $20 million for free agency and plan to make a run at Carmelo Anthony.

There are plenty of games to be played before then.

With Avery Johnson running the team and stressing defense, and Lopez having a consistently productive big man next to him, improving on last year’s win total of 12 should be easy. But making the playoffs with at least eight new faces, three new starters, no real stars and a very difficult schedule appears to be a long shot.

INSIDE THE SCHEDULE
The Nets start the Mikhail Prokhorov and Johnson era and open their first season at Prudential Center with four consecutive home games.

Sounds promising, but after the first two – against Detroit and Sacramento – the Nets play 11 of their next 13 against teams that made the playoffs last season. The caveat is two of them are versus the Cavaliers, who are now a lottery team without LeBron James.

The Nets have to win at least one, if not both, against onetime coach Byron Scott and LeBron’s left-behinds.

Still, there are some rough stretches throughout the schedule.

The Nets play Miami twice in the first six games and Orlando three times by Dec. 27.

There’s no Thanksgiving Week trip West, but the Nets head to left coast the week before. And from Dec. 17 until Jan. 17, the Nets play 11 of 15 games on the road.

That’s followed by a relatively favorable span of 11 of 15 games in Newark, where the toughest teams the Nets face at home are Dallas, Denver and San Antonio. But the Spurs game starts a stretch of five straight rough ones: Spurs, at Boston, at San Antonio at Houston and home for Phoenix before the big trip to London for two games against Toronto.

If the Nets somehow are flirting with a playoff berth as we roll into March, they will have to survive the end-of-season run that includes 10 of 16 on the road. But if it’s any consolation, eight of the final 10 games are against teams that missed the playoffs last year.

SOME BIG GAMES
The home opener is Oct. 27 against Detroit. But really the first big game is a Halloween matinee against the Super Friends – James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh – and the Heat.

Replacing the annual Thanksgiving Week trip is a reunion tour. The Nets travel to Boston to play the defending East champs with new assistant coach Lawrence Frank Nov. 24. Three days later, they’re in Philadelphia where Rod Thorn is now the president and working above general manager Ed Stefanski again, just like the old days from the Nets’ glory years.

On Dec. 5, Frank makes his New Jersey return and Newark native Shaquille O’Neal plays his first game in Prudential Center. Four nights later, Johnson returns to Dallas to face Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and the team he coached for 3 ½ teams for the first time.

The Nets play host to Kobe Bryant and the two-time champion Lakers on Dec. 12 during a three-game homestand that could also feature the return of Thorn and Stefanski when the Sixers are in town and Wizards’ rookie and top pick John Wall’s first game in Jersey.

The Nets are in Boston for the last game pre-All-Star break, and at San Antonio to open the second half – Feb. 25 – one day after the trade deadline.

THE PREDICTION
It’s hard to say how the Nets do until you see how all these new players mesh in camp, how much the buy into Johnson’s system, how the young players develop, whether Devin Harris can stay healthy and how Lopez bounces back from mono. But the Nets are better than last season and should have more of a homecourt advantage in Newark than East Rutherford.

At first glance, it says here they will win 26-30 games and miss the playoffs. Sorry Mikhail.

Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)