Lakers Rumors: Chris Paul with Clippers Makes Trading for Dwight Howard Easier

Amidst the dark cloud hovering over the Los Angeles Lakers known otherwise as Chris Paul in a Clippers uniform, there remains one undeniably bright, silver lining.

And his name is Dwight Howard.

Yes, Lakers fans, for all the doom and gloom about CP3 joining Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and the revamped core of a team that went 32-50 under Vinny Del Negro's guidance last season, the fact that LA's other team stole Mitch Kupchak's turn on Dell Demps' dance card (courtesy of NBA commissioner David Stern) may actually be a blessing in disguise.

Had it not been for the suspicious pen stroke of "King Dave", the Lakers would, at this point, have a tremendous backcourt paired with a front line that would have trouble withstanding the force of a stiff wind, much less opposing big men. Pau Gasol would've been in Houston igniting a Rockets revival back to the top of the Western Conference, Lamar Odom would've been busy moving Khloe Kardashian and her attendant camera crew to New Orleans and Andrew Bynum, suspended for the first five games of the 2011-12 season thanks to a cheap shot on JJ Barea, would've left the Purple and Gold with Josh McRoberts or perhaps even Metta World Peace starting at center.

Of course, Lamar isn't in LaLa Land, having been sloughed off to the Dallas Mavericks for an expensive bag of peanuts in what currently appears to be a case of self-inflicted karma from the Great Gasol Theft of 2008.

Otherwise, though, the Lakers are still in pretty good shape. Sure, they're fairly old and are down two key role players (Odom and Shannon Brown), but they still retain the core of a team that won two championships in three trips to the NBA Finals over the past four seasons. Gasol and Bynum may not be super elite players individually, but together, they form arguably the best front-line tandem in the NBA.

And if Kupchak and Jim Buss aren't satisfied, they now have one clear option at hand—trade those two for Dwight Howard. No longer need the Lakers front office concern themselves with trying to magically swing some fantastic series of deals in which they bring Paul and Howard together on the same team to activate their Wonder Twin powers. No longer need the Lakers worry about breaking the old NBA credo of "never trade big for small" to bring another superstar to the Purple and Gold.

Because, ultimately, the Lakers didn't (and still don't) have the assets on hand to bring two superstars to town. Beyond Pau and Drew, there are only draft picks and trade exceptions that would be worth anything to other teams. Sure, having Odom around would've helped in that regard, though the fact that he ended up with the Mavs for so little in return suggests, at least in part, that there wasn't that much interest around the league in him.

Don't get me wrong—having CP3 paired with Kobe would've been great. The Lakers haven't had an elite point guard since Magic Johnson last suited up.

But you don't need an elite point guard to win NBA titles. These Lakers won two titles with a 30-something Derek Fisher at the top. The Dallas Mavericks won it all last season with a 38-year-old Jason Kidd. The Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs hung banners with good lead guards (Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker, respectively), but really captured glory on account of elite big men.

NBA championships are won by big men. The Lakers have two of those at present and could, by sending those two to Orlando, end up with the very best—and most durable—pivot in the league today.

Pair Dwight Howard with Kobe Bryant and even Blake Griffin and Chris Paul will be left green with envy while LA's best team reasserts its dominance atop the NBA food chain.

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