Dwight Howard: 3 Trades To Get Howard in Purple and Gold with LA Lakers

Mitch Kupchak, Jerry Buss and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers brass desperately need to get Dwight Howard.  Period. 

Why so desperate?  First, the two-time defending champs were swept in the second round of the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks.  Next was the departure of Phil Jackson.  Then the news that their aging roster will have to play in a condensed 66-game season with back-to-back-to-back games.  And now December 9th has passed, training camp has started and team is without Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown (and nothing to show in return for them) and Chris Paul is playing for the other L.A. team. 

What's left of this tumultuous offseason is new coach Mike Brown with a roster compiled of an annoyed Kobe Bryant, a lost and confused Pau Gasol and the always off-and-on-injured Andrew Bynum. 

The team needs new life and a new approach to compete for a championship this year.  The current roster will simply not do against competition like the young Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder and the retooled Mavs and Miami Heat.  So with Paul officially out of the mix for the Lakers, the clock is ticking to close out a deal for Superman. 

Before we go into trade scenarios, it's important to lay some assumptions out so these trades seem logical in some respect.

Assumptions

1.  The Lakers have to take back the remaining three years, $34 million left of Hedo Turkoglu's contract.  The Magic already used their amnesty on Gilbert Arenas.  If they want to rebuild and move Dwight, it's a must that a team take on Hedo in any deal for Dwight.

2.  The Lakers have to move both Bynum and Gasol to get Dwight.  But the package of those two and draft picks for Howard and some bad Orlando contracts (Turkoglu) isn't going to get a deal done.  If it could, it would have happened by now.  Which leads me to...

3.  The Lakers need to get a third team involved.  Preferably a team that has some young pieces that are willing to add Gasol to the team and move those pieces to Orlando.  If Orlando is in rebuilding mode then there is no reason to want Gasol and the remaining three years, $57 million left on his deal unless there is some additional young talent in a deal.

4.  Houston's out of any deal.  The vetoed deal involving Chris Paul that would have sent Gasol to the Rockets for Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic and a pick was a blessing in disguise.  Gasol does not want to play for Houston and why blame him?  Gasol would be left with Kyle Lowry, Chase Budinger and Hasheem Thabeet.

Any trade the Lakers make involving Gasol will most likely be to a contender, primarily out of respect for Pau similar to how they moved Odom to Dallas.

5.  Any trade involving Dwight to the Lakers means Kupchak will sign Arenas to a deal.  It's been reported, here by CBS Sports, that Dwight was unhappy that the Magic amnestied Arenas.  Besides the relationship between the two, the Lakers are in some dire need of an upgrade at the point, currently being occupied by Derek Fisher and Steve Blake.  Arenas, despite his nagging injuries, will fit the bill.

OK, with that being said, here are the potential moves to acquire Dwight:

Trade One

Magic send Howard and Turkoglu to the Lakers.  Lakers send Bynum and a first-round pick to the Magic and Pau Gasol and Steve Blake to the Grizzlies.  The Grizzlies send Zach Randolph and O.J. Mayo to the Magic. 

A little crazy, I know, but consider this: A trade of Gasol and Blake for Randolph and Mayo is a win for Memphis.  As good as Z-Bo was last year in the postseason, he's not on Pau's level as far as a teammate or talent.  With Rudy Gay coming back, the slick move would be to acquire a stud in the post who doesn't need the ball to be effective like Randolph.  Not to mention Pau would more than welcome a trade to play next his his brother Marc in Memphis. 

For Orlando, the combo of Bynum and Randolph would be a tough matchup for anyone out East.  Throw in fourth-year guard Mayo in a contract season and the Magic could end up as a contender in the East.

Post-Trade

Lakers: Arenas, Bryant, World Peace, Turkoglu, Howard, Fisher, Barnes, McRoberts

Grizzlies: Conley, Allen, Gay, P. Gasol, M. Gasol, Blake, Young, Arthur

Magic: Nelson, Mayo, J-Rich, Z-Bo, Bynum, Redick, Big Baby, Anderson

Trade Two

Magic send Howard and Turkoglu to the Lakers.  Lakers send Bynum, $8.9 million trade exception (via Dallas in Odom trade) and a first0round pick to the Magic and send Pau Gasol and Luke Walton to the Bulls.  Bulls send Carlos Boozer to the Lakers and send Omer Asik, Keith Bogans and the draft rights to Nikola Mirotic to the Magic. 

This deal I really like, but may not be enough for Orlando.  For one, the Lakers trading for Howard comes at a steep price.  By acquiring Dwight, the Lakers are forced to take on the four years, $61 million on Boozer's deal and three years, $34 million on Hedo's. 

The Bulls upgrade at forward replacing Boozer with Gasol, but lose young prospects Asik and Mirotic in the process while taking on the remaining two years, $12 million on Walton's contract.  The Magic get their centerpiece in Bynum while Asik will serve as an insurance policy for him.  Bogans is an expiring deal and the $8.9 million trade exception will most likely be saved to acquire new players next offseason. 

Post-Trade

Lakers: Arenas, Bryant, World Peace, Boozer, Howard, Fisher, Turkoglu, McRoberts

Bulls: Rose, Brewer, Deng, Gasol, Noah, Korver, Hamilton, Gibson

Magic: Nelson, J-Rich, Q-Rich, Big Baby, Bynum, Redick, Asik, Anderson, ($8.9 million trade exception)

Trade Three

Magic send Howard and Turkoglu to the Lakers.  Lakers send Bynum and first-round pick to the Magic and send Gasol to the Thunder.  Thunder send Nate Robinson to the Lakers and send James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Nazr Mohammad and Cole Aldrich to the Magic.

The real snag here is whether or not the Lakers would be willing to deal Gasol to serious competition like the Thunder.  But aside from that, this deal is a no-brainer for the Magic and Thunder.  The Thunder, although losing some key young talent in Harden and Ibaka, acquire a true post player and to complement Durant and Westbrook.  Besides acquiring Bynum, Harden and Ibaka would slide into starting roles, forming a solid nucleus to rebuild in exchange for Howard. 

Post-Trade

Lakers: Arenas, Bryant, World Peace, Turkoglu, Howard, Fisher, Barnes, McRoberts

Thunder: Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Gasol, Perkins, Maynor, Cook, Collison

Magic: Nelson, J-Rich, Harden, Ibaka, Bynum, Redick, Big Baby, Anderson