Do Kobe Bryant and Los Angeles Lakers Have Time to Wait for Dwight Howard?

Do Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers have time to wait around for Dwight Howard, again? 

When Howard voided his early termination option, he brought an anti-climatic end to a saga that had lasted the better part of a year. 

It was an end that came merely hours before the trade deadline. It was an end that should have brought some closure to a wildly open-ended conflict. And most importantly, it was an end that should have shed some much-needed clarity to a reeling Lakers team. 

In all reality though, Howard's sudden change of heart will prove only temporary. His demeanor and the Orlando Magic's tendency to lose interest all but seal his eventual fate. 

Come this summer, we'll be right back where we started. Howard will be refusing to sign an extension unless Orlando brings in some additional firepower and the Magic will continue to lack the assets necessary to make the former a reality.

Where does that leave the Lakers?

After all, Los Angeles' ties to Howard have been inconsistent to say the least.

The center originally named the Lakers as a team he would like to play for, but by the time Howard decided upon a temporary solution, there were serious doubts as to whether he had any remaining desire to don purple and gold.

Let's say that Howard is still keen on the idea of becoming a Laker, that the allure of playing in Los Angeles is too attractive for him to pass up. Can the Lakers really afford to wait?

Once the season ends, and this soap opera starts all over again, the script will be exactly the same. Orlando is not going to rush into a decision, especially after all the work it put in leading up to the deadline. That means the earliest Howard would be on the move is next February, almost a whole year from now.

In that year, Bryant will turn 34, Pau Gasol will turn 32 and Andrew Bynum will have entered—assuming the Lakers pick up his option—the final year of his contract. That's a delicate situation for the organization to wrap their head around.

On the one side, with Gasol another year older, the Lakers may not be so averse to dealing both him and Bynum for Howard. On the flip side, though, Bryant is a year older and a midseason roster shake-up of that magnitude could dash Los Angeles' title hopes for that year as well.

And then, who's to say Howard would want to re-sign with the Lakers and their soon-to-be 35-year-old superstar? Who's to say the thought of winding up the lone superstar in Los Angeles, as he is in Orlando, will even be somewhat enticing?

Howard's the type of player who is almost impossible to pass on. He's a perennial 20 and 15 guy who instills fear in opposing offenses just by not slouching.

If the Lakers opt to wait on Howard, though, they'll be waiting on a lot of "ifs," which is never a safe bet. And when it comes to the aging Bryant, playing it anything but safe simply isn't an option.

By most accounts, the Lakers are having an off year. However, this off year has them at 31-20 and holding on to third place in the Western Conference. This off year has seen them rid themselves of Luke Walton's contract and bring in a young, reliable and extremely talented point guard.

Most importantly, though, this off year hasn't kept them out of the championship conversation.

The Lakers are going to have to make some difficult decisions in the near future. Both Bryant and Gasol are entering their twilight years, and some form of rebuilding will, at some point, have to take place.

And that's exactly why the Lakers don't have time to wait around for Howard. He's looking to contend for a championship not only immediately, but for the foreseeable future.

The Lakers cannot offer the latter.

And consequently, they can no longer be an aggressive suitor for an indecisive mind like Howard. Not only is there no guarantee the big man winds up in Los Angeles, but there's no guarantee he stays if he does.

That's too much uncertainty for an already enigmatic team. 

Right now, the Lakers have to be dedicated to contending for a title until Bryant begins to taper off, which as his 28.3 points per game suggest, he has no intention of doing, not yet anyway. 

And right now, they have a core in place that at least puts them on the cusp of doing just that. A core, we must add, that includes a 24-year-old center who's theirs to keep and theirs to build around when the time comes.

So, while the Lakers have enough time to evaluate and reshape their supporting cast, they do not have enough time to play the wait-and-see game with a player whose acquisition would decimate their roster and remain a flight risk after the fact.

The time for the Lakers to win is now, not later, and that means putting any remaining interest in Howard to bed.

For good.

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