Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: Andrew Bynum vs Bogut, Who's a Fit for Orlando?

A number of teams will be scrambling over the next few weeks in order to secure the right free agent for their team. It also turns out that free agency may not be where the biggest names are, as the free agents of the 2012 class are set to steal the spotlight away from names like Jamal Crawford, Nene Hilario and David West.

Instead of waiting until next year for free agency, it turns out that the Orlando Magic may be the ones making the move first when it comes to what exactly happens with All-Star center and perennial MVP candidate Dwight Howard.

The center is coming off of a stellar year where he averaged 23 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks per while leading the team to 52 wins and a No. 4 seed. Unfortunately, Howard and the Magic suffered their shortest postseason appearance since 2007 with a first-round exit.

This came after two consecutive years of the team at least making it to the Conference Finals with an NBA Finals visit courtesy of Howard coming in 2009. The Magic would lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games and it turns out that Howard just may be heading to L.A. via trade or free agency.

The first-round exit from last year was unsettling for Dwight, who averaged 27 points and 15 boards per in the series and it may mean a departure out of Orlando, the team that drafted him as the number one overall pick in 2004.

Howard has become disgruntled with the direction of the organization, as the team has done little to nothing to improve the roster since their Finals visit in 2009.

The Magic have only regressed in the postseason since then and it could potentially mean an unhappy Dwight Howard jetting for a team with championship aspirations and a complete roster. The Magic trading Howard may be the best move they can accomplish, since it seems as if he'll be leaving regardless once he becomes a free agent next year.

One of those teams includes the Los Angeles Lakers, where Howard's name has been brought up in trade rumors a number of times. One of the more popular scenarios usually has Andrew Bynum joining the club alongside possibly Pau Gasol and a role player or two.

The Lakers certainly have the glitz and glamor of Hollywood with celebrities in every floor seat and a home crowd that is always in support of their team.

Not to mention that the team is championship-ready with Howard as the starting center playing alongside Kobe Bryant.

For the Magic, they would be taking a huge risk by trading Howard for Gasol and an oft-injured Bynum. The Lakers had been unwilling to trade Bynum over the past few years after the lucrative deal they awarded him that recently gave him $13 million, but are now open to offers as the team has yet to see the center have a breakout season while maintaining good health.

Over the past four seasons, Bynum has played in 65 games or less with a 54-game season coming most recently. This past year was just as disappointing as the others, as Bynum clearly showed that he was hampered by the injury and finished the season averaging only 11 points and nine rebounds per.

With Howard on the trade block, the Lakers are willing to deal Bynum even it means losing out on their investment.

Bynum has been a solid post threat for the Lakers, but his injury troubles are just not worth the headache of waiting for him to develop while continuing to pay him superstar money.

This might work significantly for the Lakers, but it's unpredictable as to what will happen with the Magic if they do obtain Bynum. He has a ridiculous contract that no team should ever touch and has shown no signs that he's going to be the 20-10 player that the Lakers hoped him to be.

On top of it all, he has been consistently injured for the past four years while averaging 30 minutes of playing time only once in the six seasons that he has played in the NBA.

For the Magic to receive a deal that would be fair to them and give them a center as well, they would have to make a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks and dangle Dwight Howard so that they can receive Andrew Bogut.

The Australian-born seven-footer has dealt with his fair share of injuries that have prevented him from reaching his potential. He's coming off of a third consecutive season where he's played in less than 70 games.

With centers, however, being injury prone is usually common and needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Centers are large and injuries in their legs will happen from time to time, but the Magic are going to need to take the lesser risk if they're attempting to trade Howard and bring in a star center at the same time.

Not to mention that Bogut is the better fit either way. The Magic are going to have to replace Howard with another figure that can deter shots like Dwight has for the past five seasons and that means signing a defensive-minded presence that can shut down the post.

Bogut has been one of the league's top post defenders over the past two seasons and it has shown in the significant improvement in his shot blocking. After four years of failing to average more than 1.7 blocks per, Bogut has averaged at least two and is actually coming off of a season where he led the league in blocks per at nearly three per game.

At only 27 years old and with the prospect of the center only improving on the defensive side of the ball, the Magic should be more willing to bring in Bogut rather than the oft-injured Bynum who has still yet to prove himself.

Bogut may not live up to the potential of being a first-round draft pick, but we at least know what he's capable of. With Bynum, it's a crap shoot as you still wouldn't be sure of his offensive prowess or just how long he could last before an injury plays a major part in his career once again.