Dwight Howard Lakers: Why LA Won't Deal Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum to Land Howard

When assessing why the Los Angeles Lakers won't reportedly trade Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum for Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, it's all about the numbers.

On Sunday, Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reported that the Lakers wouldn't be using both Gasol and Bynum as trade bait for Howard.

At this point, it has more to do with the Magic than the Lakers.

The Magic have been adamant that someone must take forward Hedo Turkoglu in a deal, who is set to earn $32 million over the next three years.

The problem is, trading both Gasol and Bynum wouldn't help the Magic in terms of the salary cap.

Now, trading one of them plus Ron Artest or Luke Walton would work financially, but, then again, I doubt the Magic would make that trade.

The interesting part about all of this is that trading Bynum plus Lamar Odom may actually be enticing for the Magic, but the Lakers are already reportedly set to deal Odom to the team that swept them out of the playoffs last season, the Dallas Mavericks.

Ding reported that Odom actually requested a trade and that the Lakers didn't want to deal with a disgruntled player set to make $8.9 million this season.

In the end, the Lakers have more cap room, but it doesn't necessarily mean they will land Howard, or even build a team suitable to win the Western Conference this season.

That predictably has Kobe Bryant fuming, along with several players in the locker room and much of the fanbase.

The Lakers are either in it for the money this season, or everything is simply falling apart before their eyes.

Either way, it looks bad.