The lows keep getting lower for the 16 time champions,
dropping their 9th game in 11 and leaving them a full 4 games adrift
from Houston who occupy the West’s 8th seed and just 4 games clear
of Phoenix who are bringing up the conference rear.
The Lakers have missed the playoffs just twice over the past
37 years and while they're surely due a pass now and again it’s in their future seasons
where genuine cause for concern can be found.
The Lakers roster as presently constituted is the most expensive in the league
and also one of the most precarious.
The Lakers moved heaven and earth just 6 months ago to
acquire the final year of Dwight Howard’s contract despite the big centre never
providing any assurances he would commit to Los Angeles beyond this season.
To compound the continual drama of Howard’s choice of
workplace is the fact they’ll have little meaningful participation in this year’s
draft due in part to the deal to land Howard but also owing to their aggressive
pursuit of Nash.
As far as I’m concerned the Lakers perhaps need to concede this
season as an unmitigated disaster (again they're entitled to one now and then)
however they can’t also comprise their future prospects at the same time. The
solution would be to perhaps trade Howard now as the risk of him leaving for
nothing coupled without any draft representation would be about as serious a
situation LA have faced in some time.
With that in mind here are the 5 strongest options the
Lakers could and should pursue over the coming weeks.
DALLAS
Owner Mark Cuban seems to think Howard would like to do
business with the Mavs however any trade with the Lakers would mean at least surrendering
their first pick over the next couple of years, finding another pick from
elsewhere and also including OJ Mayo and Jae Crowder.
HOUSTON
The Lakers would know that sending Howard to the Rockets
would set their franchise up perfectly so they mightn't be as inclined to deal
with the same team who months ago also secured Harden, Lin and Asik. Parsons,
Delfino and one of either Morris or Patterson would need to be involved as too
would at least one first round draft pick, maybe two.
CLEVELAND
I personally think this would make the most sense for both
parties. From LA’s perspective it would mean gaining what’s sure to be a high
end lottery pick from the Cavs which would mean selecting as low as they’ve had
since 1982 when they used the number 1 pick to land James
Worthy. The Cavs might also need to throw the beloved Anderson Verejao into
the deal as well. As for Cleveland, they’ll be gaining the best centre in the
game to pair with Kyrie Irving. That tandem would immediately make Cleveland
playoff-worthy with the prospect of adding LeBron James in 2 years still alive.
BROOKLYN
Howard has repeatedly mentioned he could see himself in
Brooklyn and though it was considered a trade involving the Nets was close pre-season, it does seem as though they’ve moved on quite well without his services. The Nets likely won’t
be picking in the top 20 which won’t appeal to the Lakers while it might be
folly to assume the Lakers would be all in on either Lopez or his large contract.
CHARLOTTE
This mightn’t be the most fashionable move, but one which
could make a lot of sense for both parties. The trade would certainly need to start
with Charlotte’s first pick which would be in that Cleveland territory and also
include moving the number 2 pick from last season, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. If
Charlotte refused to budge on Kidd-Gilchrist then they might also have to
include their second pick in addition Bismack Biyombo. For the Lakers this would
mean 2 top 15 picks to go with Bryant, Nash and the final year of Gasol’s deal.
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