Lakers Rumors: Lakers Must Land Dwight Howard To Validate Lamar Odom Trade

It oftentimes feels like the Los Angeles Lakers are in the hands of a soap opera screenwriter, and not a very good one at that.

If true, this screenwriter's influence could be felt in a big way over the last couple days. First the Lakers landed New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul, then they didn't because David Stern nixed the deal, then they re-submitted the deal after everyone got angry and then they backed out altogether.

When the Lakers did finally wash their hands of the ill-fated Paul trade, they did so while simultaneously giving Lamar Odom away to the Dallas Mavericks, a move that was first reported by ESPN.com's Marc Stein.

To which everyone in Los Angeles and the rest of the known world said, "Um, what?"

Courtesy of Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, we now know that Odom requested a trade on Friday, the day after his name first surfaced in the proposed trade for Paul. Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak granted Odom's request, sending him to the rival Mavericks for an an $8.9 million trade exception and a protected first-round pick. The Lakers also gave Dallas a 2012 second-round draft pick.

At first glance, the Odom deal appears to be a fruitless move and a stupid one at that.

For now, it is just that. There is, however, one thing and one thing only that will make the Odom deal not fruitless and stupid: 

A trade for Dwight Howard.

Stein claimed in his original report that going after Howard was the Lakers' new plan after ending talks for Paul, and that they were going to have to contend with the New Jersey Nets for his services. The word around the campfire is that the Nets are prepared to offer Brooke Lopez and two first-round picks to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Howard and Hedo Turkoglu, who is owed far more money than he's worth.

Meanwhile, sources told ESPN's Chris Broussard that the Magic would ask the Lakers for Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, two big men they can use to take Howard's place.

The bad news, according to Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register, is that the Lakers are not about to give up both Gasol and Bynum for Howard.

If so, the Lakers clearly think that they can talk the Magic into giving up Howard for less than he's worth.

Either that, or the Lakers are not taking their pursuit of Howard seriously.

That would be cool, but it bears repeating that the Lakers don't really have a choice now that they've sent Odom to Texas. That move must be a precursor to a major acquisition, and for all intents and purposes Howard is the only guy on the Lakers' radar.

So, if they're not willing to do what it takes to get him, a simple question comes to mind:

Do the Lakers have any idea what the heck they're doing?

I would say the answer is yes and no. The deal that would have netted them Paul was a bad deal that stripped them of their strong frontcourt and then they went ahead and took a piece away from their frontcourt and their bench because he asked them to. These moves are somehow meant to make the Lakers better for the short and long run.

The one thing you can say about the Lakers is that they have their eyes on the right players. It's the way they're going about getting them that's the problem, and disaster is going to ensue if the Lakers come away empty-handed.

Honestly, that wouldn't surprise me. The screenwriter in charge of the "Lake Show" clearly has a weird sense of humor.