Dwight Howard was thought to be walking into a Los Angeles Lakers locker room that was ready to see their team make a run for another NBA title. However, with a mid-season record of 17-24 after their loss to the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 21, 2013, the Lakers look far from anything resembling a title contending team.
The trade rumors surrounding summer acquisition Dwight Howard continues to grow with every poor performance and every Lakers' loss. Last nights 83-95 loss in Chicago was the club's ninth in 11 games and their big man once again failed to be the dominate presence he was brought to the team to be.
However, the Laker's had a man in reserve that delivered where Howard failed to. Despite the loss, the bright spot of the front court continues to be Paul Gasol. In his return to action from injury Gasol came off the bench for a total court time of 26 minutes during which he added 15 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.
In his 30 minutes on the court, Howard only managed eight points and nine rebounds to further complicate the question of just why the Lakers should keep him with the high chances that they will not re-sign him this summer as he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the current season.
With the chances he will leave growing with every poor result, why not trade the guy and get at least some draft picks a solid backup for Gasol and add some salary cap room before he potentially walks without the Lakers getting anything in return?
Howard's season so far has proved that the Orlando Magic truly won the day with their trade of their former star and it just goes to show that their hard work to make sure they got a deal they wanted out of it was well worth the time it took to put it together.
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