LA Lakers: Would They Deal Andrew Bynum for Anyone Besides Dwight Howard?

The Los Angeles Lakers have more options than just Dwight Howard in a potential trade including Andrew Bynum.

Despite the fact that Jim Buss has previously called Bynum "untouchable" in any trade talks, the future of the team relies heavily on the center's development and consistent health.

While he's certainly shown flashes of being a dominant center in the league at times, Bynum has missed an unbelievable 77 games over the last three seasons, and a whopping 124 over the last four.

He might be just 23 years old (he'll be 24 in October), but Bynum's knees have already proven that they are a fairly large liability. With new head coach Mike Brown promising to craft his offense through his big men, that necessitates Bynum staying healthy for the length of the season, something he hasn't done since the 2006-07 campaign.

So what should the Lakers do with their young center? While some Lakers fans are clamoring to build a package around Bynum for Howard, any deal for Orlando's franchise center will almost certainly include the bloated contract of Hedo Turkoglu.

Because a potential trade for Howard would almost certainly have to include Lamar Odom and potentially even Ron Artest, the Lakers would be left with the starting small forward options of Turkoglu (assuming he's included), Luke Walton or Matt Barnes.

Yuck.

The last thing that the Lakers need is an overpaid veteran who is a shell of his former self. The size advantage that the club has over the opposition is something that it's not going to be eager to give up, and it's very possible that it could pursue a trade of Bynum without relinquishing it whatsoever.

Acquiring Howard would be great for the Lakers, as it would for pretty much any team in the league, but he's not the only option for a team that is looking to win right now. In fact, he might not even be the best fit.

Howard would certainly make for an imposing figure alongside Pau Gasol beneath the rim, but a deal for him would leave the Lakers still longing to fill two spots that need attention: offensive production from the small forward spot and a starting point guard.

The following trades are two examples of deals that Los Angeles could consider if it wants to actually fill the holes on the team that would extend the championship window for the tenure of Kobe Bryant's contract.

* Andrew Bynum, Ron Artest to Chicago for Joakim Noah, Luol Deng

* Andrew Bynum, Ron Artest to Utah for Devin Harris, Al Jefferson

It's fairly obvious that the Lakers won't just trade Bynum for the sake of getting rid of him, and it's going to have to be a trade that would bring the team closer to a championship.

While Los Angeles needs to start considering its future plans for after Bryant's career, any trade would have to keep the Lakers at the forefront of the competition in a Western Conference that's only getting better.

It's going to be interesting to see if the team remains committed to Bynum despite all of the injuries early in his career, because another blow to the knee could sap whatever value he has on the trade market entirely.

Bynum is an intriguing talent, but his career is already at a crossroads, and if history repeats itself and the center is once again forced to the sidelines for an extended period of time, the Lakers will likely be kicking themselves for standing by their man.