In lieu of the Mavericks’ sweep of the Lakers, CBS Sports’ Ken Berger explores the possibility of the Lakers pursuing Dwight Howard. Berger states that the Lakers, the Nets, and the Knicks are the favorites to land the superstar center. Berger cites a person “familiar” with the Howard’s situation as saying that Howard wants to be a Laker.
The Lakers are the team that scares me the most in terms of competition for Howard. The Knicks aren’t a real competitor due to lack of draft picks and young talent. However, the Lakers can offer two out of three very skilled players in Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom. For example, if the Magic received Bynum and Odom from the Lakers they would still be a playoff team in the East despite trading Dwight Howard. I don’t think that you can say the same if the Magic received, say, Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries. Lopez has more long term potential than anybody amongst the Lakers or the Nets, but basketball is a business and losing in the first round makes more money than winning 30 games.
As for Berger’s “source”, I don’t think that it has any credibility. I doubt that Deron thinks it does either.
