Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: Brook Lopez Injury Gives Lakers More Leverage

Thanks to Brook Lopez, the Los Angeles Lakers might actually come in top-of-the-heap in at least one good race—the one for Dwight Howard.

The big man for the New Jersey Nets, long rumored to be the centerpiece of any deal that would bring DH12 to the Garden State, will undergo surgery on his right foot on Friday after suffering a stress fracture during Wednesday's preseason game against the New York Knicks.

Aside from his youth and his size, Lopez's most valuable asset had been his health. He'd yet to miss a single game during his three-year NBA career while posting per-game averages of 17.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.

The Orlando Magic will have their eyes fixed firmly on Lopez's foot, at least in relation to Andrew Bynum's knees. The Lakers are thought to be willing to offer Bynum and Pau Gasol to bring Howard to LA, though they'd prefer not to part with Gasol if possible. With Lopez's longevity now in question, they may not have to.

As devastating as knee injuries can be and often are, foot injuries among big men can be, and often are, even worse. Just ask Bill Walton and Yao Ming, who both saw their brilliant careers brought to an end all too soon by foot problems.

Certainly, nobody would mistake Lopez for Walton or Yao. The fourth-year center out of Stanford is a quality center, to be sure, but lacks the sort of spectacular ability (or potential thereabout) that Bynum possesses.

And now that Lopez has a major blemish on his bill of health, the gap of durability between him and Bynum may have closed just enough to land Howard in Purple and Gold before too long.

LA's case was helped further, however minimally, by the 26 points and 11 rebounds Bynum dropped on the Clippers in the Lakers' preseason finale.

Either way, don't expect the Magic to move Howard anytime soon. GM Otis Smith will likely wait until Bynum is back from his five-game suspension and Lopez has returned from injury to decide what to do with his wantaway superstar. The Bynum-Gasol package isn't going anywhere. Neither is whatever three-or-four-team mega-deal that Nets GM Billy King has in mind.

The only thing bearing down on Smith in any sense is the NBA trade deadline, which won't come and go until March.

In the meantime, Lakers fans will have to get used to a team adjusting to a new coaching regime, with or without Kobe Bryant and his injured wrist. Once Bynum returns from his ban, the onus will be on him to prove that he's truly ready to take the next step into NBA stardom and that, as far as the trade market is concerned, he's more valuable than Lopez.

As for the Magic, they'll just have to soak up the remaining few months of Howard's career in Orlando, though the stay doesn't figure to be pretty, not with the team distracted by a media circus concerned solely with Howard's status going forward.

Surely, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak could offer Smith a tip or two on how to handle that sort of drama, seeing as how such a state of affairs is practically the norm in LA.

As a bargaining chip, perhaps?

Follow @J0shMart1n