NBA Trade Rumors: Why Dwight Howard Will Not Be Traded to the Lakers

Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers is nothing more than a pipe dream.

It's not going to happen.

There have been more rumors about this subject than I care to recollect since the beginning of the year, the latest coming from Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:

"

As Orlando works to unload Dwight Howard, Magic focusing on Lakers' Andrew Bynum as top target, sources tell Y! Sports. Story soon on site.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 3, 2012"

That sounds good in theory, but the devil is in the details. 

According to Wojnarowski's aforementioned story:

"

However positively the Magic feel about Bynum, they still need the Lakers to take back one of their expensive veteran contracts – Hedo Turkoglu or Jason Richardson – as part of any proposed trade. 

"

As Deion Sanders is fond of saying, "Hold on playa!"

The only way this deal works is if the Magic sign Howard to an extension, according to Wojnarowski's report, and you know it's going to have to be a max deal. Then, the Magic want to send one of their high-priced veterans to the Lakers along with him? 

That's not going to work. It would completely counteract what the Lakers have been trying to do all summer long, which is cut their already-bloated salary cap. 

Then, there's the minor detail involving a guy named Kobe Bryant, who, according to Wojnarowski,

"

...had a contentious phone conversation [with Howard] over a year ago about Howard’s potential offensive role with the Lakers, sources said, and there’s been an uncertainty between both about how they would co-exist on the floor.

"

Howard to the Lakers would be a disaster of epic proportions from a salary-cap perspective, a personnel perspective and a locker room perspective. 

It's not going to happen. 

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