Dwight Howard Trade: Who had the last laugh? NBA Feature
After one of the biggest trades in the NBA in some while, Los Angeles Lakers now have the services of former Orlando Magic centre Dwight Howard. While the Lakers camp is bursting with joy, let’s not forget it was a four-team and
there are bound to be some winners and losers out of it. Before he hits the court next season, let’s see what the involved teams got out of the trade.
The Lakers are no doubt the biggest winners in this massive trade and they now have essentially the best starting lineup in the NBA. Watching Howard, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash play on the same side will be a treat to
watch not only for a Laker’s fan but any fan of the game of basketball.
For Howard to fit in to the system, Lakers had to trade arguably the second best centre in NBA, Andrew Bynum to Philadelphia 76ers. While Bynum himself is a great centre, he is still the second best and Lakers will be happy having
‘THE BEST’.
In addition Laker’s star Bryant will also have some pressure off his shoulders knowing D12’s presence on the same side as his and if anything it will only improve his performance once they get their chemistry going.
Philadelphia 76ers will not be the most disappointed side in the world either having Andrew Bynum in their lineup but what is important here is the one question. Does Bynum have enough in him to lead the Sixers towards a reasonable
outing in 2013? There are many ifs in the answer.
Even in his best time at the Staples Center, Bynum was never able to transform himself into a real leader into the court and while that may not be the easiest thing to do in presence of players like Gasol and Bryant, a player of
his stature should have at least come close. We have no doubt in our mind that Bynum will have a good season as far as his own performance is concerned but when it comes to helping his side win through those performances, that remains a question mark. At least
till next season.
The Sixers will also miss Andre Iguodala’s talent in their lineup next season as he was traded to Denver Nuggets to make space for Bynum. Iguodala’s transformation in the last few seasons has seen him raise his stature as a sharp
shooter and there were no surprises when Denver Nuggets were a content side having him aboard. It is almost certain that the Sixers will miss Iguodala in 2013 no matter who they have in their starting lineup.
The biggest loser in all this process has been Howard’s old team, Orlando Magic. Hoping to get some effective players on to their roster with the money they were left with after Howard’s trade, they have returned home with pretty
much nothing but peanuts. Not only did they lose their star centre, what they got in return might be good but not as extravagant as they were expecting.
Arron Afflalo, Nikola Vucevic and Maurice Harkless may be good players in their own regard but what Magic’s coach Rob Hennigan would have expected was more on the lines of Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum and that certainly did not happen.
After Howard’s departure, it is clearly looking very bleak for the Orlando side and they would have to do something out of their skins to put up a good show this season.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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