So much for the circus-atmosphere general manager Billy King said the Nets would avoid this year. Can’t wait to see what happens when they open their first training as the Brooklyn Nets.

Their last camp as the New Jersey Nets began with reports that Dwight Howard would ask for a trade from Orlando and could be Newark-bound by Friday afternoon. Then reports said the Magic were considering filing tampering charges because members of the Nets organization, including owner Mikhail Prokhorov, had met with Howard.

King denied that was so. And the Nets were not close to acquiring Howard on Friday. But for the second straight year – which happens to be the second year of the Prokhorov-King-Avery Johnson era - the Nets were embroiled in drama before the basketballs hit the court for

As crazy as it may seem, the Nets still have an outside chance at the playoffs thank to their current four-game winning streak. Even crazier, Nets fans are going to have to root for the Knicks in some games, starting today.

Before fans get too hyped, the Nets are in 11th place, six games out of eighth as of this writing, and have to jump over four teams to earn an improbable postseason berth.

They have to do it with home games against the Celtics, Bulls, Knicks and Heat and road games at Orlando, Atlanta, New York and Chicago over the last 18 games.

But just as I’ve said a trade isn’t dead until the main player involved is traded, the Nets are not eliminated until they’re eliminated. It’s just going to take a lot of work and wins, and a lot of help from some

Brook Lopez didn’t remember the last time the Nets won three straight games, which isn’t surprising. Most players don’t recall numbers like that.

But if anyone should have remembered it was Lopez. He’s the only player left from the franchise’s last three-game winning streak, which came during his rookie season in late January/early February 2009.

The Nets matched that elusive feat last night with a Lopez-led 94-90 victory over the Golden State Warriors at The Rock that was impressive for many reasons.

* They did it without their new All-Star point guard Deron Williams. He was back in Dallas to be with his wife Amy, who gave birth to their fourth child, Desmond, yesterday.

* Lopez was dominant, scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He scored the last

Mikhail Prokhorov’s impact on the Nets hasn’t been felt entirely yet. By now, many thought he would have been able to use his money to attract a top-flight NBA player, but he still has time and Carmelo Anthony is still out there.

Anyway, for some reason the Nets seem to like when Prokhorov is in the Prudential Center, sitting above the court in his luxury box and looking down upon them. He was up there last night for the sixth time this season and the Nets won for the fifth time.

More importantly, their 89-74 victory over the Pistons gave the Nets 12 wins. Some teams had that before Thanksgiving. But the fact that the Nets reached that mark while snow still is on the ground and some people still have their Christmas lights is a reason to believe this team is heading in a direction

The Nets always go West in November, but there are some major differences about this week’s trip than some of the past ones.

First, they’re not going during Thanksgiving Week for the first time in seemingly forever, which is because they’re no longer in Izod Center.

The second is they’re leaving on a high, despite Saturday’s last-second one-point loss to the Magic. The Nets feel like they’re improving.

“Tough loss last night but I really feel like we are getting better,” shooting guard Anthony Morrow tweeted before the Nets flew to Los Angeles for tomorrow’s game with the Clippers.

The Nets would have felt much better had the left on a two-game winning streak, but their attitude was similar to two Novembers ago, when they left for

Lawrence Frank still is helping the Nets.

Replacing Doc Rivers on the Celtics’ bench last night because of a throat procedure, Frank guided Boston to a 107-92 victory over his old team in the Nets’ preseason finale. It matched Frank’s win total with the Nets last preseason and through the first 16 games before his dismissal.

Frank played Boston’s main guys relatively regular minutes and they put on a clinic against the Nets that undoubtedly will be shown to them during a film session with coach Avery Johnson. You know: things to do (Boston) and things not to do (Nets).

We’re not suggesting Frank, the Nets' all-time NBA leader in coaching victories, did it for New Jersey. It probably was Doc’s orders, but the Nets should be appreciative.

The third

Newark is supposed to be Shaquille O’Neal’s turf, but a gigantic billboard covering a building on Route 21 seems to indicate it’s Brook Lopez’s city now.

Further proof was early in Thursday’s game in the Prudential Center as Lopez took it to O’Neal and drew three quick fouls on Shaq in his backyard.

Clearly, O’Neal is not the player he was and Lopez is the Nets’ star on the rise. He probably won’t ever reach Shaq’s status, but everyone knows he is for the Nets what O’Neal was for the Magic, Lakers and Heat – The Man

“Brook Lopez is going to be great if he continues to work,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “Right now Brook is the picture of the Nets. He is ‘The Guy.’ He’s tough

Avery Johnson may not have been the Nets’ first choice, but might turn out to be the best choice for what they need after one of the worst seasons in NBA history.

Injuries and bad breaks led to 18 consecutive losses to start the season. A lack of coaching, leadership and accountability was why they won just 12 of their remaining 64 games after they were mostly healthy.

They lost all those things when Lawrence Frank was fired, but now have it again in Johnson, the Nets new head coach and first of the Mikhail Prokhorov era.

As a player, there was no questioning Johnson’s leadership and desire. He bounced around for most of his 16 NBA seasons, but spent a good chunk in San Antonio where he played with David Robinson and Tim Duncan and helped the Spurs to the 1999 NBA championship.

Money won’t be an object for the Nets this summer, be it for a coach or players. That’s what Mikhail Prokhorov taking over means.

The Nets have to use that money wisely and by that we mean they can’t overspend for the likes of Rudy Gay and David Lee. Also, the Nets have to make sure when they go shopping they find a leader.

They were lacking in so many areas during this 70-loss season and leadership ranked right up there.

Back around the time Vince Carter came back to East Rutherford to do his basketball camp last summer we wrote about how hard it would be for the Nets to make up for his leadership. They didn’t and still haven’t.

Devin Harris said all the right things, but he got hurt in training camp and missed most of it. He never was appointed official