Dwight Howard to Lakers: Why Every NBA Team Must Fear This NBA Trade Rumor

With the end of the NBA lockout and the potential start of the season less than a month away, not only is free agency certain to be hectic, but so will the trade rumors.

With the proposed Carmelo rule off the table in the newly proposed CBA, players can still sign extensions and then get traded. That favors guys like Chris Paul, Deron Williams and, especially, Dwight Howard, who is entering the final season of his current contract with the Orlando Magic.

Common opinion is that Howard won't re-sign with the Magic, although he's yet to publicly speak on his future. If that's the case, the only thing Orlando can do is deal Howard. They can't risk losing him for nothing.

If the rumors of a Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers deal prove to be true, which the Orlando Sentinal breaks down how things favor the Lakers landing Howard by 2012, then the rest of the NBA has something to fear.

A Howard-Kobe Bryant duo would be as lethal as anything currently in the NBA.

Several teams can boast a pair of stars, but not every team can boast the inside prescience that Howard would give the Lakers along with the perimeter game of Bryant.

They also would become the top defensive duo in the game immediately.

Just putting Howard and Bryant on the same team, for the final dominant years of Bryant's career, makes the Lakers an impossible matchup for other teams, both offensively and defensively.

Although he's never demanded a trade, you have to believe Howard wants to win a championship. Orlando isn't close to a championship-caliber team at the moment.

He could demand a deal to the Lakers, and then the Magic pretty much have to respect his wishes. Getting a package of Andrew Bynum and draft picks is much better than getting nothing for Howard. If that happens and Howard ends up in a Lakers uniform, the rest of the NBA should be very fearful of how good that team could be.