NBA Trade Rumors: Dwight Howard vs. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, Who's Better?

Even though Los Angeles Lakers' Jim Buss, the son of owner Jerry Buss, told the LA Times that he would not be interested in sending Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum to the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard, if the trade did happen, would it be advantageous from L.A.'s perspective?

The thing that you need to know is that someone would still be playing the power forward position for the Lakers. In all likelihood, that player would become Josh McRoberts.

To a degree, the way to consider the value of the trade is consider the difference between Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum and whether that's greater than the difference between Pau Gasol and Josh McRoberts. Or perhaps which would offer you the better frontcourt, the tandem of McRoberts and Howard or the tandem of Bynum and Gasol. 

The rub here is that you are actually looking at two different styles of frontcourt that are arguably fairly even. Howard and McRboerts are a tandem that offers good offense and great defense. The tandem of Bynum and Gasol offers good defense and great offense. 

Bynum and Gasol offer a combined PER of 47.9 and an OPER of 30.2. McRoberts and Howard offer a combined PER of 45.9 and an OPER of 28.4. The former tandem offers a difference of 17.7, the latter one of 17.5. That's close enough to call it a wash. McRoberts and Howard next to each other would be a fearsome defensive combo.

That brings up the question, which is better for Los Angeles?

Both Howard and McRoberts have a better injury history than Andrew Bynum, so it's more likely they would be able to sustain year to year production and lend themselves to another Laker dynasty. 

More importantly, they lend themselves well to the new mindset of Mike Brown, who wants a more traditional style of offense, and less fast-paced than what the Lakers had under Phil Jackson. With the Lakers getting older, the Howard/McRoberts tandem would fit better with the older version of Kobe. 

Which is better is moot. Which is better for the Lakers is the question to consider, and taking all things into account, it seems that the defensive priority makes more sense for L.A.