LA Lakers Are Dwight Howard’s Only Sensible Option in Free Agency

If Dwight Howard knows what's best for his career, he'll re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer. By extension, if I believed he knew what was best for his career, you'd have nothing to read at the moment.

Ridiculous though it may seem, Howard's future remains shrouded in uncertainty. He's finally playing in the lavish market he desperately craved and on a team with the financial means to do anything and the résumé to prove it. And he's still not satisfied, not that he should be.

Fighting what has been a constant uphill battle shouldn't sit well with Howard. It shouldn't sit well with anyone. That the Lakers find themselves paying $100-plus million for a team still sitting 3.5 games outside of the postseason picture can't be gratifying.

It also can't be used at the sole motivation behind Howard's departure. Nor can his on again, off again rapport with Kobe Bryant. 



Should the season end, the dust settle and the Lakers find themselves not just ring-less, but lottery-bound, Dwight still has no business leaving. Not if he wants to give himself the best possible chance to win.

Plenty of teams will be vying for Howard's services this summer, but none of them will afford him the opportunity to win like he can in Los Angeles.

Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks are appealing from afar, but what's the reasoning behind Howard leaving one 34-year-old in Bryant for another in Dirk? The Houston Rockets, in all their James Harden-fueled glory, are a flamboyant bunch yet their still in the middle of an extensive rebuild. Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry will have plenty of coin to use on Howard, but someone will have to remind me why the big man believes he can succeed on a team that embodies mediocrity.

From there, what other options does Howard have? If he still believes he's going to the Brooklyn Nets then he's more deluded than we or...

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