Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: LA Must Keep Andrew Bynum on the Table

The Los Angeles Lakers have offered Andrew Bynum to the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard, straight up, but were rebuffed by GM Otis Smith, according to Peter Vecsey of The New York Post.

LA would be insane to take this off the table and should continue floating the proposal up until the March 15 trade deadline to see if they can take advantage of a Magic team that will be getting more desperate by the day.

It’s clear that the Lakers need to make a change in order to compete for a championship in 2012, but it’s even more pressing for Orlando to get something in return Dwight before he leaves for nothing in the offseason.

There have been a number of rumored deals between these two teams and even some that involve a third franchise.

None of the alleged moves would be better for the Lakers than a simple one-for-one swap of Howard and Bynum.

They retain their entire core of key players and upgrade the center position significantly.

GM Mitch Kupchak would be returning a player who is still well in the prime of his career (Howard is only 26 years old) and figures to be the face of the franchise long after the Kobe Bryant era ends.

They would be giving up an oft-injured center in Bynum, who has career averages of 10.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, for a legitimate superstar—who stays on the court—with better production.

Howard averages 18.3 ppg, 13.0 rbg and 3.0 bpg over his eight seasons in the league.

Of course, Magic fans and NBA junkies will instantly recognize this as a one-sided trade and many expect Orlando to bring back Pau Gasol along with Bynum if a transaction actually occurs.

This does not mean that Otis Smith will not eventually break down and take the best available and most promising center in the league outside of Howard—especially if the Lakers remove Pau from the discussion.

It’s going to be a tense couple of weeks, but LA has the advantage and quite possibly could fleece the Magic before the deadline.