Lakers Trade Rumors: Flirtation with Dwight Howard Continues to Be a Nightmare

Dwight Howard would look good in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. In fact, I'll wager Howard would look better in purple and gold than Shaquille O'Neal ever did.

But it's just not going to happen. Or at least, it's highly, highly unlikely that it will ever happen.

Sports Illustrated's Sam Amick updated the Howard situation in an extended report on Monday. He said the Lakers are still on Howard's wish list, but it sounds like there are some pretty negative vibes between Howard and the Lake Show.

For starters, Howard is said to prefer the New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) Nets because they would give him the chance to build his personal brand. Playing in Los Angeles alongside Kobe Bryant would not give him that chance.

As one source put it, Howard wants to "be Kobe Bryant, not be with Kobe Bryant."

There was a rumor out not too long ago that Kobe had reached out to Howard and told him he wanted him as his sidekick, but that rumor was ultimately squashed (Sporting News has the full narrative). However, Amick says Howard has been informed that Kobe does indeed see him "as a second or third option on a championship-caliber team."

That's not exactly an insult, but Amick says the Lakers' ownership is annoyed with Kobe for (allegedly) rubbing Howard the wrong way. They are left to hope that Howard will reconsider and put the Lakers atop his wish list.

This is all according to Amick, but HOOPSWORLD's sources said the Lakers are already out of it. They've tried their best to make a play for Howard, but the two sides view the situation too differently.

So all told, not a whole lot has changed. But for the Lakers, no news is bad news in this case. It sounds like Howard-to-the-Lakers is a longshot.

At this point, you honestly have to wonder if Howard-to-the-Lakers would even work if it did happen. The idea of pairing Kobe and Howard was a tricky idea several months ago when there were no rumored bad vibes between the two. It's a rumor that I don't want to put too much stock into, but there's typically fire where there's this much smoke.

So if Howard were to come to the Lakers, Mike Brown would be forced to come up with a system that would please both Howard and Kobe. If there were to be any trouble with that system, you can rest assured there would be a lot of drama in Laker Land.

Given the emergence of Andrew Bynum, in the end it's just not worth it for the Lakers to keep up their pursuit of Howard. The pursuit itself has been a headache, and there are no guarantees the headache would go away if the Lakers were to acquire Howard.

Besides, the Lakers need a point guard and/or a small forward, not an upgrade at center.