[bobbybParticipant]

Of course Dwight Howard is the #1 Center in the league.  However, you would have to be crazy to think that Dwight/ McRoberts is a better combo than Bynum/ Gasol. I dont want to even go into details that it is a waste of time to argue.

[bobbybParticipant]

Ok maybe ishould explain, where would the interior scoring come from? Dwight doenst have many post moves, he relies on getting fouled.  Do  you think it is a coincodence that his PF’s were Rashad Lewis and Ryan Anderson? What do they have in common….perimeter PF’s. If Dwight doenst have the perimeter guy out there, is gonna get DOUBLE TEAMED all day long. He cant dish it to McRoberts, he  has ZERO post moves.He is decent rebound , athletic and most of all he doesnt make a big salary. Also Fisher/ Blake are not PG’s that throw up lobs for Howard to finish.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

The reason this is even a possible scenario is due to a major thing: durability. Gasol/Bynum is only a better combination if Bynum is actually healthy. Seeing that this has never been a sure thing, who would you rather have, Howard/McRoberts or Gasol/McRoberts?

It would be a gamble to give up two incredibly tall players who have won you a pair of championships, but Dwight Howard is the best center in the league bar none. Not to mention, he has been incredibly durable and has not missed much time at all during his career. If they could take on Turkoglu’s contract with Howard, there could be much worse prospects for the Lakers.

One of them would be standing pat without Lamar Odom and hoping that this team is better than the one that got trounced in the play-offs by Dallas last season. If they do that and just hope that Bynum stays healthy/shows relative improvement and Gasol does not disappear, they are still taking a pretty big risk. My opinion? If you have a chance at getting Kobe Bryant with Dwight Howard, you take it. Yes, Kobe is getting up there in age, but he looks fantastic this season.

You do not know if Dwight and Kobe would work as well as having both Gasol/Bynum, but Dwight Howard led a team with Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu as his front court partners. If he has another grinder in McRoberts next to him, not to mention Troy Murphy maybe stretching the floor, the Lakers could do worse. It is a gamble for the Lakers either way, but if they decide against trading Gasol/Bynum for Dwight Howard, they had better do something. If they do not, good luck winning with there current group of guys minus Lamar Odom.

Where would the interior scoring come from? Well, Dwight Howard. The guy does not have many post moves, but Ryan Anderson and Rashard Lewis get more help from him than he does from them. When you have a guy like Dwight Howard, the game is made easier for a lot of other players. He draws in defenders and is a guarantee to up a teams shooting percentage. Shaq always had rugged PF’s who shot on the perimeter and he did just fine with Kobe. Not to mention, they would still have a better group of role players than most of those championship Lakers teams of 2000-2002.

[bobbybParticipant]

but shaq was a far better offensive player than dwight howard

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

But look at their roster when they won titles. Christ, Derek Fisher was the third leading scorer on two of those teams. Fisher! They would still have Ron Artest, more than likely Matt Barnes, plus they get a double figure scorer if they take on Turkoglu’s deal. McRoberts and Murphy, it is not that bad. Again, Gasol and Bynum may be better, but only if Bynum is playing. I think Dwight staying healthy is more likely than Bynum. 

Dwight averaged 27 ppg in the play-offs. He is not Shaq offensively, but very few, if any, are. Is it a guarantee they win a championship? No, especially not this year. But I honestly feel it might be a better long term option to have Dwight Howard than those two players. If Turkoglu does not work, amnesty him and get some people free agents. You are not going to amnesty Gasol or Bynum unless one of them has a career ending injury, so having Howard gives you more flexibility here.

I believe that teams who get the best player usually win trades. There is such a thing as giving up too much, but I do not believe that would necessarily be the case here if it were Bynum/Gasol for Howard/Turkoglu’s expiring contract. If they have to give up a few young pieces, they are very much replaceable at this point in the Lakers franchise. The only keeper is Kobe.

I always felt the only viable option of getting Howard was trading Bynum and Gasol. Never bought the Bynum/Odom for Howard talk. Still do not know if it goes down, but if they have Kobe and Dwight Howard, good things can happen. Kobe still has a few more years left and Dwight does not look to be anything less than the leagues best center for the foreseeable future. He is not Shaq, but he is more reliable than Bynum and it appears that without Odom, Gasol/Bynum might not be enough. I think the gamble is worth it, especially given Bynum’s penchant for getting hurt and Dwight’s durability. Dwight makes the game easier than either Gasol or Bynum does, think Kobe would appreciate the heck out of that. 

[bobbybParticipant]

i would agree if they still had Lamar Odom to play the perimeter.

[llperez]

I would not trade Bynum and gasol for Dwight.
Give Bynum another chance at staying healthy. He has looked like a dominant big man when he gets a stretch of health going. He actually hasn’t suffered an injury in 2 years. He only missed games last season because of off season surgery that he had put off so he cold help the team win the ring in 2010.

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