Two things have become painfully obvious for the Lakers over the past few months: they are not winning the NBA championship, and Dwight Howard does not want to be on their team.
We can pretty safely assume that Dwight Howard will leave the Lakers as a free agent this summer. Therefore, their options are pretty simple: they can lose him for nothing, they can trade him for Brooklyn's 60-cents-on-the-dollar package of Brook Lopez and cap fodder or they can get a real asset in Rajon Rondo.
If you're the Lakers, which of those options sounds most appealing? Assuming they could get some value for Steve Nash (which at the very least could replenish their empty stock of draft picks), the 2014 Lakers might actually be in a position to compete with Rondo, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
More importantly, as currently constructed, the Lakers cannot present a compelling reason to LeBron James (who becomes a free agent after the 2014 season) as to why he should leave Miami for them. Why leave Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to play with a 36-year-old Kobe Bryant?
But a 28-year-old Rajon Rondo? Now we're talking.
And if you're the Celtics, this really kills two birds with one stone. Rondo has been a thorn in management's side for years with his prickly attitude and inconsistent play. Trading him essentially allows them to hit the reset button on who to build their team around.
But more importantly, the Celtics, as currently constructed, stand absolutely no chance in a seven-game series against Miami. But if you stuck Dwight Howard on the team? At the risk of sounding redundant, now we're talking.
Miami's biggest weakness is size. Their small-ba...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
