According to reports there are up to four teams involved in a potential Dwight Howard deal that would send the indecisive diva to Brooklyn. To the surprise of none the Lakers aren’t one of those teams. The Clippers, however, are said to be one of the teams looking to loot the spoils from the fallout of the Howard movement.
But what else would you expect?
I said last week the Lakers overpaid for Nash. They gave up all the chips they had left for any future with Howard instead opting to get a 38-year-old point guard that probably won’t be worth his contract after one season.
Jim Buss said the team wasn’t going to be making any major moves and he was right. The Lakers looks pretty much set as all of the top tier targets are disappearing around them.
To be sure it seemed unlikely that the Lake Show was ever going to feature a Kobe Bryant-Dwight Howard combo. The Magic wanted Andrew Bynum and draft picks. Buss was never going to give up Drew and those draft picks have been plundered by the Suns.
On paper it would look like the Lakers gave up nothing to acquire Nash. The reality is they traded their future away in more ways than one. This team needs to get an infusion of new talent. That isn’t going to happen through the draft. Without all those draft picks it’s not going to happen via trade either. Outside of the untradeable Kobe, the immovable Bynum and the unwillingness to deal Pau Gasol there are no other assets worth trading for on the Lakers’ roster.
It’s to the point where the Lakers can’t even get the table scraps in the Howard deal. The Clippers could be landing Marshon Brooks, a young guard with serious potential. Exactly the type of player the Lakers should be pursuing as opposed to aging vets with bloated deals.
But hey, Buss did all his work for the summer. No doubt he’s already on vacation thinking he’s done all he can to improve this team. Enjoy the early vacation time, Jimmie Buss. With the way things are going that’s going to be a new tradition.