Dwight Discussion: Griffin for Dwight?... Naaaa (1011)

Lakers' outlook on Dwight Howard should change
By Mark Medina
July 2, 2012, 8:41 p.m.

Within a seven-hour span, my opinion on whether the Lakers should pursue Dwight Howard completely changed.

Call me fickle and uninformed. But the same could apply to Howard, too. After constantly going back and forth on whether he wants to stay with the Orlando Magic or leave for presumably greener pastures, Howard finally put his proverbial foot down. He told Yahoo Sports on Sunday night that he wants to play for one specific team, which sources close to him indicated was the New Jersey Nets. But that wish blew up in his face when the Nets, for whatever reason, reached a deal to acquire Atlanta forward Joe Johnson, guaranteeing they wouldn't have enough cap space or assets to secure Howard.

My opinion has changed on Howard simply because of the circumstances. The main uncertainty in the Lakers swapping Andrew Bynum for Howard involved his long-term future with the purple & gold. He made it clear through back channels he had no desire in following in Shaquille O'Neal's footsteps. Howard also offered unenthusiastic responses toward playing second fiddle behind Kobe Bryant. That backdrop put the Lakers at huge risk by giving up a huge asset only to see Howard leave after one season.

That framework changes, however, with the Nets getting Johnson. The Lakers have stronger negotiating power in convincing Howard he likes sunny Los Angeles. After that a mix of winning, excellent weather, fewer options and the Hollywood spotlight could convince Howard to stay. After all, who could see Howard having trouble saying no to that backdrop when he's already agonized so much over possibly leaving Orlando?

Of course, some concerns still persist. When will Howard recover from his back surgery? Some teams, such as the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks, will also throw sweeteners at the Magic center. How long will it take for Howard and Bryant to iron out any issues regarding their role? But those issues are far less agonizing than wondering when Bynum will improve his poor on-court behavior and inconsistent effort.

It's way too early to know whether the Lakers can hit a "home run," as General Manager Mitch Kupchak put it. But one thing's clear. New Jersey inadvertadently delivered a fastball right down the plate. Now the Lakers need to swing with full contact.

FabFourLakers wrote:I don't want Dwight on our team...esp if we're giving up Bynum for him.

Now if we were trading Pau, that's a different story.

Doc Brown wrote:I don't want him on the team, but the FO seems to want him on the team. And the sad part is they don't care if other deals pass them by as long as they attempt to get there man.

Mark Medina wrote:My opinion has changed on Howard simply because of the circumstances. The main uncertainty in the Lakers swapping Andrew Bynum for Howard involved his long-term future with the purple & gold. He made it clear through back channels he had no desire in following in Shaquille O'Neal's footsteps. Howard also offered unenthusiastic responses toward playing second fiddle behind Kobe Bryant. That backdrop put the Lakers at huge risk by giving up a huge asset only to see Howard leave after one season.

JUST-MING wrote:

Mark Medina wrote:My opinion has changed on Howard simply because of the circumstances. The main uncertainty in the Lakers swapping Andrew Bynum for Howard involved his long-term future with the purple & gold. He made it clear through back channels he had no desire in following in Shaquille O'Neal's footsteps. Howard also offered unenthusiastic responses toward playing second fiddle behind Kobe Bryant. That backdrop put the Lakers at huge risk by giving up a huge asset only to see Howard leave after one season.

Who is to say Andrew Bynum has a long-term future with the Lakers? He could bolt for “greener pastures” as well. Also, I don’t mind at all that Howard doesn’t want to follow in Shaq’s footsteps. Howard already has 3 defensive player of the year awards and 3 rebound titles (Shaq only had 1). He has played the pivot the way that it’s supposed to be played ie. rebounding and blocking shots. That’s how Bill Russell played when he won 11 titles with the Celtics. He didn’t need Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade to win titles.

JUST-MING wrote:I’d put Dwight in the same group with Bill Russell, Moses Malone, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Same size 6’10”. Same explosive second jump. Elite offensive rebounders. Can switch on and defend guards. The main flaw in Dwight’s offensive game is that he does everything to his right. Let’s be honest here, Bynum only has 1 post move, a drop step. Let’s not pretend he’s Kevin McHale on the block. He isn’t.

That Shaq comment was about developing a skillset, namely a bank shot at the age of 28.

JUST-MING wrote:

Rooscooter wrote:And did you just compare him to Russell?....

Yeah, about 30 pages ago.

revgen wrote:Bynum's agent has already indicated that he's willing to talk

JUST-MING wrote:

JUST-MING wrote:I’d put Dwight in the same group with Bill Russell, Moses Malone, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Same size 6’10”. Same explosive second jump. Elite offensive rebounders. Can switch on and defend guards. The main flaw in Dwight’s offensive game is that he does everything to his right. Let’s be honest here, Bynum only has 1 post move, a drop step. Let’s not pretend he’s Kevin McHale on the block. He isn’t.

That Shaq comment was about developing a skillset, namely a bank shot at the age of 28.

JUST-MING wrote:

revgen wrote:Bynum's agent has already indicated that he's willing to talk

After the Trevor Ariza incident, I don’t have any faith at all in his agent.

revgen wrote:The Ariza "incident" happened 3 years ago.

revgen wrote:Extensions aren't as lucrative under the new CBA.

revgen wrote:And once again, I don't see how this has anything to do with Bynum. Teams like Portland are offering max money to players like Roy Hibbert. Houston is offering $8 million to scrubs like Osik. Golden State paid an underachieving Kwame Brown $7 million last season.