Dwight Howard to L.A. Lakers: How Denver Nuggets Can Deliver Him to Kobe

Ever since the Lakers were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of this year's playoffs, a certain level of angst has ensued across Los Angeles.

Questions regarding Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Lakers' futures spread across the sports world like verbal wild fire. And the general consensus amongst the fans and media was that Los Angeles needed to make some drastic changes and adjustments to return to their championship contender status.

Forget about the fact that although the Lakers played poorly in their series against Dallas, the Mavericks are potential NBA champions. Many teams would use such an occurrence as an excuse, but not the Lakers.

Los Angeles has already found a coach to replace Phil Jackson in Mike Brown and now has their sights on obtaining either Chris Paul or Dwight Howard via 2012 free agency or trade. While we have to admire the Lakers' willingness to accept nothing less than a championship appearance, they may be jumping the gun on their ambitions.

The Lakers may be among Paul's and Howard's list of preferred destinations, but either acquisition is far from a lock.  

It widely known that the Lakers would prefer Howard because a dominant big man is so hard come by, and their Andrew Bynum experiment has not paid off thus far. Howard would be a great addition to the roster, especially if given the opportunity to play alongside Pau Gasol.

However, Los Angeles may be a tougher sell than most people realize.

The problem with the Lakers is that they do not have the right balance between veterans and youth. Kobe, Ron Artest, Derek Fisher and possibly Lamar Odom have all seen the best of their days already, and Howard may be reluctant to join a team that is a house of cards talent-wise. Either of these players performance levels could head south anytime now.

In order to give themselves the best possible chance of either signing Howard, or convincing him to push the Orlando Magic to trade him to Los Angeles, the Lakers have to achieve such balance. And this means getting younger.

Enter the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets, thanks to the Carmelo Anthony trade, have a stockpile of young assets that could help the Lakers add some youth and increase their talent level at the same time.

Denver's main attraction in this situation would be Raymond Felton, who, after playing at an all-star level with the Knicks, was delegated to the Nuggets bench in favor of Ty Lawson.

With New York, Felton averaged 17.1 points and nine assists per game, extremely solid numbers. Additionally, Felton will be only 27 at the start of next season, while Fisher will be 37, 10 years older.

Felton would add a youthful, yet veteran, dynamic to the Laker locker room and give the team an adequate floor general who can facilitate Kobe's offense as well as score. And his presence on the team would further entice Howard to will his way to Los Angeles.

However, Felton alone may not be enough. After all, Kobe may still be playing great, but he is aging. Howard may want a little extra assurance that the Lakers can be a championship-caliber team even without Kobe.

And as luck would have it, this extra assurance can also be found on Denver's roster. Both Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari are young players with enormous potential who the Nuggets would be willing to part with.

Gallinari would provide the Lakers with another offensive weapon who is lethal from beyond the arc. He averaged 15.6 points and nearly five rebounds per game this season and shot 37 percent from three-point range. Additionally, he is a very underrated defender.

One knock on Gallinari is that he does have to improve his rebounding and become more aggressive offensively, but he has drawn comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks.

However, Denver covets Gallinari and believes he is on the brink of reaching his full potential, so a more realistic option for the Lakers would be Chandler, who is a restricted free agent this summer.

Chandler averaged 15.3 points and nearly six rebounds per game this season, and he has enough versatility to play the two, three or four positions. His strength and ability to get to the rim make him a rare commodity for someone standing at 6'8", and he has drawn his own comparisons to Carmelo Anthony.

Additionally, Chandler has further developed his outside game. He shot 35 percent from three-point range this season and became as reliable an outside shooter as anyone. He is also an above-average defender with the ability to guard players much taller and stronger than himself.

It is believed that Chandler's preference is to leave Denver, which means the Nuggets may be amenable to a sign-and-trade deal. He would help the Lakers out on both ends of the floor, as well as make them more appealing to Howard.

A trade that sends Felton and either Gallinari or Chandler to the Lakers is very possible, and more than likely, the Lakers would be able to retain Gasol and Odom in such a trade.

The Lakers are still a very good team as is, but their key players are aging. Howard would be a great addition, but Los Angeles needs to put together a young core of players that further entices him to join them, because Kobe Bryant is no longer enough on his own. 

If the Lakers are truly serious about making a run at Howard, they need to first make a run adding competent youth to their team.

And to do this, they need look no further than the Nuggets.