NBA Trade Rumors: Los Angeles Lakers Wise Not to Overpay Magic for Dwight Howard

Los Angeles Lakers’ GM Jim Buss isn’t going to panic and swing a stupid trade to appease fans of his team.

He realizes that they already have three All-Stars on the roster with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and wouldn’t be willing to give two of them up for one in Dwight Howard.

Buss wasn’t coy when asked if he was considering that specific trade by the Los Angeles Times’  T.J. Simers.

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"Where does this stuff come from?" he says. "You'd have to be kind of silly to give up two All-Stars like that for Howard. Zero truth to it. We have never been asked for Andrew and Pau and we've never offered them. I think they know we'd either say no or they would sound crazy for asking."

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Of course, Buss would love add Howard, but he isn’t willing to overpay and commit to a ridiculously one-sided deal.

This is smart and the Lakers’ GM needs to stick to his guns here, even after falling in the first game to Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls.

There has been talk that Kobe has lost a step, the team won’t be the same without Lamar Odom and plenty of other nonsensical panic surrounding the team after one game.

Dwight doesn't fix any of this. If anything, he would add more pressure and unrealistic expectations.

Factor in that Bynum is suspended for the first few games and that the roster is getting acclimated to fresh faces, including new head coach Mike Brown, and you can see why the Lakers are going to struggle initially.

Believe in Buss, who said of the team he built,

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"I don't know what our record will be during the first half, but I believe over the last 33 games going into the playoffs we will have the best record in the West."

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That would be an ideal situation and would have the Lakeshow as a favorite to win it all once again this season.