Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: Star Center Would Be Key to Lakers' Resurgence

During the 2012 playoffs, the Lakers' bigs got totally exposed by Oklahoma City's young frontcourt. Now, they're pledging to make big changes in the offseason, and Dwight Howard could be exactly the kind of impact player they're looking for.

Earlier this week, Chris Sheridan reported that Howard was still seeking a trade from Orlando even after the team had fired head coach Stan Van Gundy. Though Sheridan mentioned the Brooklyn Nets are a top contender for Howard's services, he also mentioned the Mavericks, Knicks, Clippers and Lakers as possible landing spots.

This move could go one of two ways: Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard sharing the court could be such a disaster that it provokes the apocalypse, or it could work out perfectly.

One thing we know for sure about the Lakers is that Andrew Bynum is no longer their answer at center. Maybe he never was. He was barely a factor in L.A.'s final two games against Oklahoma City, when he and Pau Gasol were held at bay by Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison. Gasol, in fact, was so ineffective that his trade stock may have plummeted after the Lakers' loss in that series.

It's clear that L.A. needs to rebuild, and they need to seriously shore up a frontcourt that looked overmatched and weak against the young and aggressive Thunder.

Howard is the best option to replace Bynum, and possibly the only available upgrade.

Howard is the kind of player whose presence alone turns a team into a title contender. Just look at what happened to the Magic when he went down before the playoffs. Granted, the entire team was mired in so much turmoil, it's nearly impossible to diagnose the reasons for its futility, but without Howard, the team was utterly beatable.

With Howard and Kobe are together in L.A., the Lakers go from being weak in the paint to being totally and completely dominant. Howard is the best center in the game, plain and simple, and Kobe is one of the best shooters. They're both game-changers, and sticking them on the same roster makes the Lakers early title favorites—as long as the two stars don't kill each other first. 

Of course, that's assuming it all works out. That's assuming Howard doesn't wreak the same havoc behind the scenes as he did in Orlando, which ultimately resulted in the team's demise. With someone like Kobe around, though, it'll be hard for Howard to cop the same type of me-first attitude.

Maybe all Howard needs to truly excel is another star to take some of the heat off and keep him in line.