NBA Trade Rumors: Front Office Fiasco Killing Lakers' Pursuit of Dwight Howard

The Los Angeles Lakers were already somewhat behind the eight-ball in the Dwight Howard sweepstakes when the 2011-12 NBA season began, and they have only fallen back further with the emergence of crippling dysfunction throughout the organization.

As so carefully, brilliantly and tragically detailed by Ken Berger of CBS Sports, the Lakers' front office is in a state of utter disarray. Jim Buss, the son of owner Jerry Buss and the team's vice president of basketball operations, has essentially gutted and reshuffled the higher rungs of management since the summer, restocking the shelves with guys named "Chaz," reshaping the organization to better reflect his wayward footprint and, perhaps worst of all, putting profit ahead of the pursuit of championships.

Somehow, it seems, the best owner in American professional sports may have spawned one of its most petulant heirs.

And, along with him, a pervasive sense of distrust, paranoia and inertia to "complement" a near-complete lack of communication between the various wings of the organization.

Not exactly the ideal working conditions into which a wantaway superstar like Dwight Howard would want to immerse himself. Howard is already believed to prefer a move to the New Jersey Nets, where he'd instantly become the face of the franchise, ahead of even fellow All-Star Deron Williams, just in time for its much-anticipated move to Brooklyn next season.

On the other hand, Howard is already less than thrilled with the idea of playing in LA, where he'd be following all too closely in the successful but insufferable footsteps of former Magic big man Shaquille O'Neal while playing second-fiddle to Kobe Bryant, if third behind Pau Gasol as well.

Freneticism in the front office can't possible make things look any better from Howard's perspective all the way in Florida, where he's spent most of his career toiling under Otis Smith's regrettable regime.

Nor does such disunity in transition make it any easier for the Lakers to put together a proper package of their own. Jim Buss has long been reluctant to part with Andrew Bynum, his most successful pet project to date, and scrambling together the rest of the chips necessary may be too much of a struggle for GM Mitch Kupchak to overcome, given how isolated he's been left with so many of his former colleagues having moved on to other teams.

As Ken Berger relays in his ominous diatribe:

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"The other GMs know what's going on," said one of the people familiar with the Lakers' chaos. "Jim has no relationships with other GMs, and they also know they're going to be able to swoop in there and do things [in trades]. This is a real critical time. The chances of Dwight Howard coming in there are slim and none at this point."

Before the Lakers even consider such a move, it would seem they need to get their own house in order first.

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Indeed, as President Abraham Lincoln once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand," not even on shoulders as solid as Howard's.

Assuming he'd even want to be part of a crumbling organization, buoyed only by the shiny facade of 16 championships painted in purple and gold.

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