This horse has been dead for sometime now but we’ll keep kicking it until the zombie corpse reanimates and dons a Dwight Howard jersey.
How much longer can this horribly scripted melodrama play out?
As it stands the Lakers, Magic and Cavs are supposedly in talks for a trade that might or might not hinge on the willingness or unwillingness of both Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum to sign contract extensions with their respective new teams. Howard was said to be willing to make a commitment to the Lakes Show before his agent reversed field. Bynum supposedly had Cleveland (for whatever reason) on his shortlist of teams he’d play for besides the Lakers yet isn’t saying a word on whether or not he’d commit to the Cavs.
Then there’s the Magic who apparently want draft picks and for some sucker to take bad contracts off their hands in exchange for Howard. Yet they’re willing to settle for Anderson Varejao and a few picks from Cleveland instead.
Really?
What are we supposed to believe, think or even care about for that matter?
Howard butchered this whole situation from the start so here we are. Mitch Kupchak must feel like he’s trapped in some Kafkaesque tale for which no ending was ever written.
While we can’t honestly say that we do know all of the particulars what is abundantly clear is that there are too many moving pieces to pull off this Howard deal. That is beyond obvious based on the teams that have come and gone through the rumor mill. Brooklyn, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, the Lake Show, just about every team linked to the Howard trade in some capacity has either moved on, cooled off or reached a dead end.
While it’s easy to point the finger of blame at Howard himself, because this all his doing, we can’t overlook the inability of the Magic to simply pull the trigger. They’re as indecisive as Howard himself.
The time has come for someone to make a decision, stick to it and make this thing happen. The more this drags out the more the Lakers will miss out on opportunities to improve in other ways. Not that Howard isn’t worth the trouble, but while other teams keep building the Lakers remain stuck in neutral with only Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison to show for their desires to chase another championship and that just simply won’t cut it.