For Howard, he just spent the past year languishing.
First it was Howard wrestling with the decision between staying with the Orlando Magic or forcing a trade to the Brooklyn Nets.
To be completely fair to Howard, he lived up to his promise from last July, where he said, "There's only one team on my list [Brooklyn] and if I don't get traded there, I'll play the season out and explore my free agency after that."
Once the Nets had finally moved on from Howard and traded for Joe Johnson, it seemed he was doomed to languish for another season in Orlando.
A deal finally did go through when he loosened up his restrictions just a tad and the Lakers tossed Andrew Bynum to Philadelphia as pieces swirled around and Howard landed in Los Angeles.
In the process, Stan Van Gundy was fired by the Magic, Mike Brown was fired by the Lakers and Howard was suddenly saddled with a "coach killer" vibe.
By the end of his first, and now only, season with the Lakers, the constant drama and speculation about whether or not he would stay marred an already rough stint, in which the Lakers finished the year in seventh place and were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
Leaving Los Angeles was actually the cleanest moment of the past year for Howard, so the damage that was done was mostly on Lakers fans.
While he did have a bit of a wishy-washy moment near the end of Friday night before he ultimately settled on Houston, it wasn't a long, drawn-out process. Howard met with teams on July 1 and 2, making his decision on July 5.
On the other hand, the Lakers did something that doesn't normally happen on the fre...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
