Lakers Trade Rumors: Dwight Howard Would Make LA the NBA's Most Dangerous Team
Move over, Miami. There's a new scariest team in the NBA.
Or there will be soon.
After months of speculation and doubt and roadblocks, there's finally a solution to the Dwight Howard drama: L.A.
RealGM's Jarrod Rudolph tweeted the news late on Wednesday night:
"Sources: Dwight Howard is ready to join Lakers. If traded to Los Angeles Howard will re-sign long-term with team after 2012-13 season.
— Jarrod N Rudolph (@JRudolphSports) July 19, 2012"
By all indications, all of the issues that could stand in the way of a potential deal have been solved. D12 gets to play with an elite point guard in Steve Nash. The Lakers get the best center in the league. Along with Kobe Bryant, they finally have the kind of three-headed monster that is necessary to compete with teams like Miami these days.
And finally, Howard has agreed to sign a long-term extension with someone. After all this time, and after shooting down abundant options (though you can't blame him for refusing to sign his future away to Houston), he's finally found one that suits him.
What suits Howard also makes the Lakers the NBA's scariest team. Forget the Heat. They may have the best player in the NBA in LeBron James, but now, L.A.'s second- and third-in-command are stronger than Miami's. Not only is Steve Nash one of the best point guards in the league, despite being 38, but he gives the Lakers a colossal strength in an area that's a weakness for the Heat.
Mario Chalmers played well in the 2012 postseason, but he's no Steve Nash. He could get there, maybe—he only has four years of NBA experience behind him—but for now, L.A. conclusively has the edge.
The battle between Dwyane Wade and Kobe is a toss-up. Kobe is older, but he's proved to be more clutch in the postseason, and of course, he has (many) more rings. Kobe is always the centerpiece of the Lakers whereas Wade always takes a backseat to LeBron, but Wade's proved to be a more efficient shooter over the course of his career.
Where the Lakers truly win, obviously, is with Howard. There is no comparison between D12 and Chris Bosh. During this year's playoffs, we received evidence of just how significant Bosh is to the Heat's frontcourt—the Heat looked lost up front until he returned from an abdominal injury in the Eastern Conference finals—but multiply that impact by a million, and you'll get the impact Howard will have on the Lakers.
Bosh is good. He shoots 49.2 percent from the floor and reels in almost nine rebounds per game with a block and 19.4 points.
But Howard shoots 57.7 percent from the floor. He racks up 12.9 rebounds per game with 2.2 blocks and 18.3 points. He's bigger and he's stronger, and he has the swagger that comes with being the most important player on your team for your entire career.
In this year's NBA Finals, when a healthy Bosh returned to the team and to the starting lineup, the Heat looked completely different. Bosh put up 14.6 points and 9.4 rebounds with 1.8 blocks against Kendrick Perkins and the Thunder, but those numbers aren't going to happen against Dwight Howard. Not even close. And those numbers are a big reason why the Heat won the title.
In a league where elite centers have become an endangered species, the Lakers will soon pull off the ultimate coup in obtaining the best one. He's going to be their X-factor, their most significant weapon.
LeBron may be the best player in the league, but he can't do everything by himself; even when he puts up 40 points, the Heat still needs someone up front to contribute on both ends of the floor. Bosh is good, but he's not the best.
The Lakers will soon have the best, and there's no one else in the league who can stop him.
