Oddly enough, Austin Powers and I have been asking the same question about all of the rumors suggesting that Dwight Howard could be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers:

And now, it looks like they finally can, thanks to John Ireland of ESPN, who had the following to say on "The Herd" with Colin Cowherd:

What I've been told is that Dwight Howard's agent, Dan Fegan, has told the Lakers that he and his client will not sign an extension. So if the Lakers trade for him they're getting him for six weeks, and they would have six weeks to convince him to stay for a long-term deal. That's an incredible risk to take.

Indeed it is, John Ireland. Indeed it is.

I understand that the Lakers want Howard to be the face of the franchise after Kobe Bryant retires, but it is time to move on. This team remains a tweak or two from being a legitimate contender for an NBA title, and wasting any more time worrying about Dwight Howard is folly at this point.

If you've been following the Lakers rumors of late, you know there are players out there they could snag that would help this team.

Michael Beasley of the Minnesota Timberwolves has been mentioned. Point guards like Ramon Sessions from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Raymond Felton from the Portland Trail Blazers have been floated around.

Hell, my favorite trade possibility for the team never involved Dwight Howard, but rather involved the team sending Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets for Kyle Lowry and Luis Scola.

That might be unlikely to happen, but it would be where my focus would lay at this point. It's time that the Lakers gave up their pursuit of Howard.

As Austin Powers might say, the Lakers just aren't Howard's bag, baby.

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