In my mind, it really couldn't have happened any other way.
Part dos of the “way overdue” blog posts revolves around none other than Dwight Howard and the blockbuster trade that sent him to La La Land. My 1st reaction was, “What took so long?” Howard eventually landing in LA was something that was predicted on this little blog for weeks...and weeks...not exactly a bold prediction, but it just seemed blatantly obvious to me from the outset of this whole D-12 fiasco. That Howard had handpicked Brooklyn as his destination of choice was foolish in its own right. Why Howard was ever so desperate to land at what has mostly been a weak-to-mediocre franchise since its inception was beyond me. And playing with Deron Williams and Joe Johnson might have worked out pretty well, but given all the other pieces the Nets would have to give up to get Howard back in any deal it seemed impossible that the cupboard wouldn’t be completely bare aside from Brooklyn’s hypothetical big 3. The Lakers seemed like the only logical destination from day 1, as Howard would get to go to a big market team where he will no doubt be challenging for championships the rest of his time there, and he could get a chance to pursue all the other extraneous non-basketball stuff he seems to covet as well.
Reaction number 2 was that on paper the Lakers could be really good next year…like, really good. Much like any paper champion though, there are a lot of things that could derail the Lakers next season. 1st of all, they are old. We all know about Kobe’s mileage, but it should be interesting to see if Metta World Peace can play next year…like, at all. And Steve Nash is now 38, and no longer has Phoenix’s mythical training staff to work their magic on him either. And did I mention Howard is coming off major season-ending back surgery as well? No, I didn’t? Ok…so there’s all that, and the questions of how this team will play on the court too. Who will dominate the ball and initiate the offense (Nash or Kobe)? Nash is a perfect pick-and-roll point guard, but Kobe does his best work in isolation plays. Will they actually use Pau Gasol how he should be used (down on the low block), or will he continue to be miscast as a screener/high post jumpshooter like he was last season? Will Howard be ok doing the dirty work (which he’s great at, by the way), or will he actually want the offense run through him like he demanded last season in Orlando? Also, the other best teams (Miami, OKC, Boston) perfected their small-ball lineups last year. Everyone is chiming in about how Gasol and Howard will be a matchup nightmare for anyone, but will LA be able to keep them both on the court at the same time if 1 of those teams counters with 1 of their speedy lineups. No matter how you look at it though, the Lakers should at least land somewhere between good and very good no matter what. LA was good enough to grab the West’s number 3 seed last year, and the best players Howard has ever played with up to this point in his career are Jason Richardson, Rashard Lewis, and Jameer Nelson…yikes.
How Gasol and Howard play off 1 another could be very interesting to watch next season.
My 3rd thought was this: f*** the Lakers…no, just…seriously. They always seem to fleece other teams in trades, and whether it’s through a trade or free agency they always get the exact guy they want to boot: Shaq, Gasol, World Peace, Nash, and now Howard. In the 4 team deal for Howard, what exactly did the Lakers have to give up? Andrew Bynum, a couple tomato cans, and some draft picks (which are garbage draft picks anyway because LA is always too good to be in the lottery). A day or 2 before the trade went down, there was talk that the Lakers would have to throw Gasol along with Bynum into any Howard deal, but they got away without having to even do that…seriously, what the…if I talk about it anymore, my head’s going to explode.
This brings me to my 4th and final thought: what the f***, Orlando?!? Listen, I was actually with you when you looked like you were just going to stand pat. The deals that were thrown out there before with Brooklyn and Houston just didn’t have enough meat on the bone to make it worth your while. You looked prepared to wait for someone to blow you away with a better offer, or else you would just play out the next season and take your chances that you could convince Howard to resign…but to give Dwight Howard away in this trade after all that is criminal. This is basically what the Magic got back in the trade: Arron Afflalo (nice player but nothing special), Al Harrington (who flourished in George Karl’s system but who hasn’t looked great elsewhere the last few seasons), salary cap relief by getting Richardson and Chris Duhon off the books, and those tomato cans and crappy draft picks that were mentioned above. In the words of Tony Kornheiser, “That’s it, that’s the list.” My only other thought is (and you can bet your sweet a** I will be putting a hyperlink to this in future posts if it comes true) that they know more about Dwight Howard’s health than they are letting on, and they feel that Howard’s surgery and subsequent rehab makes him a risk to ever get back to where he once was as a player. If that winds up to be the case, this will be the type of thing that a 30 for 30 gets made about a few years down the road…if not, Orlando, you got some ‘splaining to do.
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