Los Angeles Lakers Trade Rumors: Could Dwight Howard for Andrew Bynum Work?

Carmelo Anthony is not coming to Los Angeles.

Any hopes that Lakers fans had of Anthony donning the team's signature purple and gold were washed away by the announcement that the New York Knicks had completed a deal to bring the former Nuggets star to the Big Apple.

However, the Lakers' quest to improve their team didn't end with Anthony, and the fact that he signed with New York should increase the sense of urgency for general manager Mitch Kupchak.

In order for the Lakers to remain relevant in the new NBA, it may be imperative that Kupchak makes a move to boost the star power in Tinseltown, and fortunately some very high-profile options may still be on the table.

The most intriguing future free agent for Los Angeles has to be Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, if for no other reason than the history that already exists between the two teams.

Howard wouldn't be the first Magic center to leave Florida for Los Angeles, but if he did the move would be just as significant as when Shaquille O'Neal did so more than a decade earlier.

The best chance that Los Angeles has to acquire Howard may lie with Lakers center Andrew Bynum, but would Kupchak and owner Jerry Buss part with their young center in favor of Howard?

I know that sounds silly when you look at both players and what they have accomplished so far in their young careers, but there are some advantages that Bynum has over Howard.

For one, Bynum's fundamental skills are far ahead of Howard's at this point, and that edge actually translates on both sides of the ball.

Howard has won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award the past two seasons, and rightfully so, but in truth Howard's man-to-man defensive skills are lacking.

Howard is a great team defender, and the league's best deterrent at the rim, but he has shown poor mechanics and footwork when forced to defend an opponent one-on-one.<...

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