Lakers Trade Rumors: Why LA's Big Get Won't Be Dwight Howard or Chris Paul

I could come up with a laundry list of reasons the Los Angeles Lakers won't nab Dwight Howard or Chris Paul via trade:

1. Jim Buss is reluctant to "give up" on Andrew Bynum.

2. The Orlando Magic and the New Orleans Hornets don't want to give up their franchise stars just yet.

3. The New York Knicks will get to them first.

4. The asking prices will be too high.

But while all those may be valid reasons to keep such a deal from happening, none will actually serve as the justification for inaction with regard to acquiring Superman or CP3.

Instead, who the Lakers end up with will be dictated by general manager Mitch Kupchak's unpredictable wheeling and dealing.

Kupchak has a reputation around the NBA as a front-office "wild card," though even that was built on but a single, though hugely impactful, deal—the Pau Gasol trade. Prior to the 2007-08 season, everyone and their mother (in LA, at least) was sure that if the Lakers were to deal for another star, it would be someone along the lines of Jason Kidd or Al Harrington and that Andrew Bynum would be sent away as the sacrificial lamb.

This, after Kobe Bryant was caught on camera suggesting that Lakers management should "ship his [Bynum's] a** out" to New Jersey for the Nets' star point guard.

Rather than bend to Kobe's will, the Lakers waited and watched as Bynum blossomed before injuring his knee on an awkward landing against the Memphis Grizzlies.

That injury seemed to not only put any chance of trading Bynum on ice, but also bury LA's promising season.

Instead, Kupchak went out and fleeced the Grizz, packaging Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol, two first-round picks and a bag of peanuts for Pau Gasol and a second-rounder. Pau fit in perfectly to Phil Jackson's triangle offense from the get-go, lifting the Lakers to the first of three straight NBA Finals appearances, from which they gleaned two titles.

While Dwight Howard and Chris Paul would be the obvious choices to revitalize the Lakers with some fresh tiger's blood, chances are that Kupchak will opt to blindside Lakers Nation with an entirely unexpected trade, if he can and does so at all.

Jim Buss' love for Bynum, LA's most attractive trade chip, will likely leave Kupchak hamstrung as he peruses the market for someone to help smooth the franchise's transition into the twilight of Kobe's career. As such, it will be up to Kupchak to once again get creative with what few assets he has at his disposal while looking for another Chris Wallace-like general manager to fleece.

In other words, Lakers fans, expect the unexpected.