Where Will Pau Gasol Fit in Alongside Dwight Howard, Lakers Superstars?

According to ESPN and league sources, the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic have agreed to a deal that would send Dwight Howard to Los Angeles, pending league approval.

The news has traveled around the globe and as everyone felt and heard, a sigh of relief was let out simultaneously by so many people that the earth was blown away from the Sun a few hundred feet, cooling off this unbearably hot summer.

While the details of the trade are still leaking out periodically, the Lakers will end up getting Howard, the Philadelphia 76ers will land Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson, the Denver Nuggets get Andre Iguodala, and the Orlando Magic would get Moe Harkless, Al Harrington, Arron Afflalo, Nikola Vucevic and a protected first-round pick from each team involved.

It seems that the only thing standing in the way of the Lakers making the Western Conference finals next season is the phrase "basketball reasons."

Now, if you look closely, you'll notice a name missing from that trade. Pau Gasol, involved in countless rumors and previous scenarios of the trade, will remain in Los Angeles should the deal go through. That means you're going to see the best center in the NBA alongside a power forward who can rebound, pass and shoot with devastating post moves. Oh, and that last dude is now the fourth-best player on the team.

As a basketball fan, it's hard to look at this deal and not be excited for what's to come. Not only are Gasol and Howard playing together, but the Steve Nash-Pau Gasol combination that had us so giddy for the past month isn't going to be broken up before they run their first pick-and-roll.

However, there's got to be concern somewhere in this whole situation. Realistically, it's hard to continue to give Howard just 13 shots a game, right? Back when Shaq was the best player in purple and gold, it was strange to see him shoot the ball fewer than 18 or 19 times a game.

With that thought in mind, who is going to be the one sacrificing a few more shots? Steve Nash won't get too many off, he'll probably ring about eight or nine a game; Kobe will continue to put up 20 shots a game; Metta World Peace is good for five or six random shots out of the flow of the offense; and Howard will likely end up with three or four more per game than he got in Orlando.

That leaves Gasol and his 14 shots per game left to dwindle down to 11 or 12 measly attempts.

Even still, with the threat of a big man still underneath that can hurt the defense if they decide to double-team Gasol. With a point guard who sees angles that haven't been seen since Pistol Pete, and one of the best players in NBA history, Gasol should be better off. 

It seems inevitable for the Spanish center to take a slightly lesser role in the offense, but his lesser role will come with more open shots, more successful pick-and-roll attempts and a higher field-goal percentage.

Gasol has been, at the very least, option 2A for the Lakers ever since they traded for him back in 2008. With the trade for Steve Nash, he was still their second-best option, but there would be more cases where he is third or fourth in relation to the rest of his team. Now he's at best the third option for L.A, which might not be a bad thing.

So long as Gasol isn't perturbed with the notion of playing third fiddle (is that even a thing?), Los Angeles should grow and thrive beyond what they would have with Andrew Bynum in the lineup. Things are about to get very interesting.

Now that the Lakers have picked up their early retirement present for Kobe Bryant upon his return to the States, all that's left is to wait until the playoffs to see how well the players and team conform.