Dwight Howard Lakers: LA Must Act Quickly and Creatively to Beat out Nets

The rampant trade speculation concerning Dwight Howard and Chris Paul is tearing the Los Angeles Lakers apart. If GM Mitch Kupchak and team executive Jim Buss don't move soon to seal a deal for one (or both) of the NBA's biggest stars, the Purple-and-Gold edifice standing so tenuously about the Staples Center could come tumbling down.

And the timing couldn't be much worse, with the co-tenant Clippers on the rise.

According to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, the move to dump Lamar Odom on the Dallas Mavericks for draft picks and a trade exception isn't necessarily part of some grand scheme LA's front office is dreaming up:

In fact, as Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports, the deal was of Odom's design, not Kupchak's:

Odom was hurt deeply when word originally got out that he was to be sent to New Orleans as part of the now-defunct deal that would've pried CP3 away from the Hornets. He'd been an integral part of the Lakers' run of three consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, including two rings, all the while sacrificing money and playing time to become arguably the most valuable bench player in the league.

In L.O.'s mind, he'd been loyal to the Lakers, he'd done everything they'd asked of him, and, as a result, he was shocked when that loyalty wasn't reciprocated by the team.

That being said, Odom's departure leaves LA's front court significantly weaker and the mere tease of the whole situation, to the players as well as the fans, means Kupchak and Buss must take the next step, lest they allow the team to enter Mike Brown's first season as the head coach significantly weakened with nothing to show for the change.

How they get a deal done for DH12 is anyone's guess at this point, though such a swap isn't likely to include both of LA's remaining big men:

The chief concern for the Lakers' front office is coming up with an offer for Howard that is both satisfactory to Magic GM Otis Smith and more attractive that whatever the New Jersey Nets are prepared to offer, which will likely include Brook Lopez and a pair of draft picks.

It stands to reason that Orlando will want a young center in return for Howard in any situation. For the Lakers, that clearly would mean Bynum. He has more upside than Lopez, given both his superior size and athleticism, but his achy knees are reason for concern.

In any case, the winner of the bidding war will likely have to take back the salary of Hedo Turkoglu and perhaps another role player or two to make the money match up.

Ultimately, if the Lakers are to make the most of what's become a toxic situation, they'll need Kupchak and Buss to get creative with the assets they have at their disposal. They've done it before (see: Gasol, Pau, 2008), so there's every reason to believe they'll pull off another miracle, hopefully before Christmas Day.

Given the fluidity and insanity of the past week, there's no predicting how exactly this whole situation will turn out. All that matters is that it does, with Dwight Howard in a Lakers uniform standing on the other side of this crazy rainbow.

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