LA Lakers: 5 Ways Steve Nash and Dwight Howard Are Perfect Pairing

After the blockbuster trade that landed the Los Angeles Lakers Dwight Howard, all the talk has been speculation about how far they can make it in the postseason. All of the talk is just that, talk, and nobody can say for sure how well they'll fit together as a team.

However, one thing is for certain. Dwight Howard is going to pair magnificently well with Steve Nash.

Nash has been one of the best offensive facilitators since John Stockton was dropping dimes back in the 90s, and his bread-and-butter pick-and-roll fits perfectly with the athleticism that Dwight Howard shows off.

The Lakers have quite a few questions surrounding the team that they've put together: whether or not the bench is going to perform well enough, how well Kobe is going to deal with a lesser role in the offense and how Pau Gasol will feel as the fourth option. However, one thing is for sure, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash are going to make an incredibly lethal combo.

Inside-Outside

For those of you who don't know, Steve Nash is an extremely efficient perimeter shooter. With a bit of space he can easily put down a three-pointer, and if you spread that out over the course of a season, he's going to shoot 40 percent for three.

If you're unaware that Dwight Howard is great at scoring in the paint, then I'll go ahead and wait while you watch some YouTube clips...no seriously, we can wait...did you do it? Okay good.

Basically we're looking at a guy who dominates the paint so much that he draws double-teams and a guy who is so good at running an offense from the perimeter that he draws the same double teams.

If that's not the versatility and teamwork that the Lakers are looking for, then I don't know what is.

The "Other" Superstars

The Los Angeles Lakers had an amazing top four a few days ago when Andrew Bynum was still a part of the team. Now it's undeniable that the combination of Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol is the best top four in the NBA.

What does that mean for the Steve Nash-Dwight Howard duo? Well, that means there aren't enough defenders on the floor to deal with everyone, so there's bound to be an open shot to take somewhere.

The most insane thought that I've had since the Lakers traded for Howard on Friday is actually pretty simple. Los Angeles has Kobe Bryant, who was the No. 1 option on the Lakers last year; Dwight Howard, who was the No. 1 option on the Magic last year; and Steve Nash, who was the No. 1 option on the Suns last year.

I'll let that sink in for a moment. They have three No. 1 options on their team. Oh, and of course there's a guy who goes by the surname of Gasol, who is pretty good himself working his way up to option 3A at times.

With that many excellent players to speak of, it's hard to imagine how anyone would be able to stop them all simultaneously.

Dwight Howard's Defense

The biggest concern that was floating around between the time when the Lakers picked up Steve Nash and the time when they traded for Dwight Howard was whether or not Nash's poor defense would end up hurting them more than his offense was helping them.

Basically the concern was that Nash, who is prone to getting caught up in picks on the pick-and-roll and getting beat by younger fellows, would leave Bynum to deal with too many pick-and-roll combinations coming at him. Bynum, as a mediocre pick-and-roll defender in the first place, would struggle to deal with all of them.

However, Bynum is gone and in his place is Howard, who is one of the best pick-and-roll defenders in the NBA.

With that in mind, it makes sense now that Nash should be able to play his game without worrying too much about a guy getting past him or getting caught up in a screen—because Dwight is going to be there most of the time to step up and help out.

Steve Nash's Precision Passing

We've already taken a look at how Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol helps the duo and how Dwight Howard helps Steve Nash with his defense, but we've yet to talk about how Nash makes Howard better, which is probably the biggest, most important thing to talk about when it comes to these two.

Obviously, Howard is a great basketball player thanks to his experience as the league's best big man over the past handful of seasons. That, along with his athletic ability, makes him one of the best basketball players in the NBA.

However, when Howard was at his peak he had Jameer Nelson as his point guard. Nelson had his moments as a good basketball player, but he's never really been a great point guard. He's serviceable, but he doesn't always make the best passes and has proven to be a bit slow at times getting the ball to the open man.

Steve Nash is the opposite of that. Nash continues to be one of the best passers in the NBA, clocking in at second in assists last year behind Rajon Rondo with just under 11 a game.

He's got the uncanny ability to get the ball to the guy with the best chance of making a shot and always seems to make the best possible pass in the best possible location, leading the guy he's passing to right to where he needs to be to get an open shot.

Howard is going to thrive with Nash dropping the ball down to him each game.

Pick-and-Roll

The best partner that Steve Nash ever had for the pick-and-roll was Amar'e Stoudemire, without a doubt. 

Stoudemire—when he was at his peak with the Phoenix Suns—was extremely athletic, highly skilled and rarely ever dropped a pass, especially with Nash dropping it in on him in the perfect spot every time. All he had to do is put his hands out and the ball was there.

Likewise, Amar'e was such a threat that Nash was able to get loose quite often, allowing him to get to the rim with little effort or pull up for a shot as both defenders fall back to try to stop Amar'e. 

It was a combination that was nearly unstoppable, contributing endlessly to the run-and-gun offense that led to Phoenix leading the league in scoring year after year.

Now, Nash has the pleasure of working with a big man that is even more athletic than Amar'e and just as quick as he was in his heyday. 

Howard ran the pick-and-roll well with Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu; just imagine how he's going to pair up with Nash.

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