At this point, talking about Dwight Howard and how the Los Angeles Lakers need him in order to be a championship caliber team is becoming somewhat nauseating. The Lakers could do fine with the additions they've made so far this offseason while standing pat with their front court lineup of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Metta World Peace. Despite how nauseating the back-and-forth talk may be, you can never be upset as a fan to hear that Howard could possibly be joining your basketball team. I just feel like so many people are placing an all-or-nothing emphasis on the correlation between Howard joining the Lakers and an NBA title coming to L.A.
This time around the talks regarding Howard to the Lakers involve four teams and more than just one of the Lakers' front court players leaving the team. Instead of simply surrendering Bynum and receiving Howard in return, the Lakers would give up both Gasol and Bynum in exchange for Howard and Al Harrington -- with other players going elsewhere. All of the details of the trade breakdown can be found in Yahoo! Expert NBA writer Adrian Wojnarowski's article published on August 9. And when it comes down to those details, there are certain things about the trade I like as a fan and others that I don't.
I like that the Lakers would be acquiring another front court player in tandem with Howard. Al Harrington played with the local NBA team, the Golden State Warriors, and his contributions were countless. Although he was with the team for only a short period of time, Harrington was one of my favorite Warriors and he was able to put his best foot forward and gave his all while on the court. Since 2006-2007 Harrington has averaged 16.6 points per game and six rebounds while shooting 38.5 percent from beyond the three-point line.
What I don't like about the rumored trade is the loss of both Gasol and Bynum. Bynum I could do without, but the loss of Gasol bothers me. Before everyone gets all excited over that statement, allow me to explain. Gasol is not my favorite Laker by any stretch. However, with the addition of Steve Nash, Gasol would have been the consummate pick and roll partner for Nash. Nash's versatility combined with Gasol's ability to pass or shoot the ball effectively from outside the key would have made them a deadly duo.
The trade isn't done yet, but as stated by Wojnarowski, "A deal is not considered imminent, but the talks have grown serious over the course of this week."
This seems to be another one of those "hurry up and wait" situations that we, as NBA fans, have become so enamored with throughout the duration of the Dwight Howard trade rumors. I believe the longer Howard remains a member of the Orlando Magic the more in-depth these trade rumors will become. Hopefully he gets traded soon so we can move forward and speculate about his impact with his new team.
Food for thought: Is this the deal that will send Howard to the Lakers or will this one crumble apart like all the rest? Is waiting for Howard the best thing for the Lakers to do or should they simply move on?
David is co-founder of wrapupp sports blog where fresh content is posted daily and present sports blogs and sports opinions - all with a West Coast bias. Growing up in the Bay Area, David is a huge supporter of all the local sports teams; the Giants, Athletics, Warriors, Sharks, 49ers, and Raiders. His one fault, admittedly, as many of his friends and family would say, is his love for the Los Angeles Lakers. Growing up, Magic Johnson was his favorite basketball player and he fell in love with the team. He chalks it up to, "Not knowing any better". Now his love for sports has turned just as academic as it is intuitive and he follows most all sports all over the nation.
You can follow David on Twitter: @officialwrapupp
Sources:
Yahoo! Sports. Lakers, Magic in blockbuster four-team trade talks to send Dwight Howard to L.A. NBA 2012.
Basketball-Reference.com. Al Harrington. NBA 2012.
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