NBA players react to Dwight Howard blockbuster trade – NBA News
A day after the trade involving Dwight Howard and the Los Angeles Lakers was finalized, NBA players made their comments about the deal and how it impacts the league.
Orlando Magic All Star centre Dwight Howard was acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers in a four team trade that involved the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets. Andrew Bynum, former centre of the Lakers, ended up
with the Sixers as part of the trade.
Howard will now join Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol in the starting line-up next year for the Lakers, making them the favourites to win the championship over rivals Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat.
“That's what the Lakers do. They have great management and ownership to make those moves come to life,” said Oklahoma City Thunder forward and franchise player Kevin Durant, who is currently in London for the Olympic Games with
team U.S.A and recently won a gold medal with the team.
Durant is most likely to be affected by the trade as before the Lakers finalized a star studded roster for next season, the Thunder were the team tipped to be Western Conference champions next year.
"You never know, but we feel confident about ourselves. The Lakers, we always respect them. We always have battles with them. I'm sure it's going to be even more fun this upcoming season when we play against those guys,” added
Durant when asked if he thought the Thunder were still the team to beat in the Western Conference.
The deal was approved by the league on Friday, after speculations that it would be turned down considering the fact that the trade would possibly create a super team. NBA commissioner David Stern had cancelled a deal before the
start of the 2011-2012 NBA season involving the Lakers and the New Orleans Hornets which would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers. However, no such episode took place with this deal.
Carmelo Anthony, who was once himself part of a blockbuster trade that saw him going from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks, said:
“It definitely gives them that presence once again. It definitely makes them another powerhouse in the West or in the NBA as a whole.”
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