Lakers Rumors: LA Must Swing Deal for Dwight Howard Before Next Summer

The window for the Los Angeles Lakers to land Dwight Howard is slowly closing.

According to a report by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, the superstar center is planning to take his talents to the Dallas Mavericks next summer, as L.A. will not have the financial flexibility to ink him to a desirable contract.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, due to the rules of the new collective bargaining agreement, there is no possible way they could pull off a sign-and-trade in the 2013 offseason, meaning the only possible way to land Howard is by swinging a deal before the March deadline.

However, the team may just luck out, as DH12 has once again reportedly confirmed (by Wojnarowski) to Magic GM Rob Hennigan that he has no desire to remain in Orlando past the 2012-13 season.

That means that the franchise is faced with taking the best offer by the 2013 trade deadline or having their star big man walk away for absolutely nothing in return less than four months later.

If the Lakers keep the framework of an Andrew Bynum to Cleveland/Houston, multiple first-round picks to Orlando and Dwight to Los Angeles on the table, odds are the Magic will eventually bite.

It would behoove Hennigan to jettison Howard sooner than later, and with the Brooklyn Nets (the only other serious suitor for Howard) unable to make something happen until December, the Lakers are the team to strike an agreement with.

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak needs to be in constant contact with Hennigan from here on out and work to find a suitable deal that will get this Howard saga over with and have him in a purple and gold uniform. He’s got until March to make it happen, but the sooner the better.