Uh, that's the whole benefit. The Rockets and Lakers are in the same place record-wise, as you said... despite the fact that the Lakers had Howard and the Rockets didn't. The comparison Dwight will make isn't the Lakers with him to the Rockets without him. That's irrelevant and illogical. The comparison is the Lakers with him to the Rockets with him. And it's clear the latter would be a better team. As for number of All-Stars, which team has a current All-Star that isn't 35 and coming off an Achilles rupture? Edge Rockets. You may have a point with title history. But that's the only edge in the LA column from a basketball perspective. Next year for the Lakers is totally screwed. They have no prayer of contending, even with a healthy Howard. If Dwight's priority is contending for a title, he would need Kupchak to acquire at least one All-Star, and possibly two, in 2014 free agency. Probably needs LeBron. Perhaps LA's title history is enough for Dwight to make that gamble, but nonetheless, it is a gamble, and one that involves essentially throwing away at least one year of the prime of his career. Is Dwight willing to do all that? Maybe he is, but it's not a slam dunk case. What's clear is that in Houston, there's a roster Dwight can see that gives him a chance to contend very soon. There isn't in LA.
I had to reread your post. I thought you got the cities mixed up. There's nothing about LA that should outweigh Houston at this point. Houston is young talented and on the rise. LA is old and the decripid with an usure future. Harden and company are ready to hand over the team to Howard. Even after Kobe was injured he still tried to hold onto the limelight from his hideous texting. Houston runs a high powered offense and Harden is a willing passer who will gladly pass to Howard. . Kobe runs a one dimensional offense that starts and ends with him. Houston is ready to win a championship now. LA is not even sure if they will have Kobe, Gasol and Nash next year. Houston has the smartest GM in the league who will find that right pieces to fit around Howard. LA doesn't have any cap space to do any thing. They can only wait for the summer of 2014 to start a rebuild. Houston has not state taxes. The extra year LA can offer will only net him an extra 8 million. A one-legged Howard proclaiming he's a transvestite could earn that much. That's not even counting the cost of living and housing. He can build the home of his dreams for a fraction of the cost. Houston is clearly the better basketball choice. In fact Houston leads in every category with exception of one. The glamour and glitz of LA. There won't be all the famous parties of who's who to attend. No more Hollywood on the sidelines. ANd there is the possibility he could lose some endorsements by leaving LA. For sure winning in LA es more prestigious than winning in Houston. But winning anywhere is better than losing. And that's what Houston offers. We are ready to win. Already built for him and only need him to finish the deal. LA is so far out of the picture it's a joke. Kobe is a one way player. If Dwight picks LA it won't be for basketball reasons. Houston's got those hands down.
This. Their window is closed SHUT if they barley made the playoffs with a healthy Kobe wat they gone be like with injured Kobe
We were also as close as you can get to having no power forward whatsoever for the last 30 games or so.
An additional point for you, PSJ, since I know you're a history-based guy: The Lakers are no doubt the best franchise of our era. But even great franchises have down periods. The Magic era ended in the summer of 1991... they didn't have a "contending" window again until Shaq and Kobe arrived (the latter largely due to the NBA's inexperience at the time with scouting high school talent) for the 1996-97 season. And even after Shaq and Kobe got there, there were the typical growing pains... one 4-1 loss and two 4-0 sweeps in the playoffs by the Jazz and Spurs. It took at least five years for LA to to regain championship "hope" and until the 1999-2000 season for them to mature into a real contender. I have no doubt that over the course of 20 years or so, the Lakers are going to have more contending teams than the Rockets. That's just the nature of the business. But that isn't Dwight's decision. He's looking at the next four or five years, the prime of his career. In that window, today's Rockets are the better basketball bet -- just as they were in the summer of 1991, relative to LA. The stars are aligning.
Kevin is loved by present and past players, not DAntoni. Kevin has some history with helping HOF big men. LAL is a team on serious decline and no superstar left on team. Kobe is an injured has been at this point and the Lakers have nothing left in the tank. Houston has a 23 year old superstar that is still a year or to away from his prime and a bunch of great young talent. The Rockets are only going to get better. Once upon a time Boston was the NBAs version of title town and now they struggle just like every other franchise. The type of success LAL has had is fleeting and certainly not guaranteed, perticularly since Jerry West is no longer the GM and Jerry Buss has passed away. If this past seasons debacle is any indication of the type of mismanagement they have to look forward to then the Lakers are in for a long steep fall.
Yeah that was a pretty bad troll attempt. I just want it to be the offseason so we can see what really happens. I don't care about all these rumors
Dwight howard will be miserable if he stays with the lakers.. they roster is not that good...and with no room to improve.. he will be destroyed by the media under pressure with no kobe,,, dwight loves to have fun,....
How would he feel about playing twin towers with Asik? Dwight could do the fun jobs of inside scoring and shot blocking, leaving Asik more than happy to do the dirty work. Asik won't demand offensive touches, unlike Gasol.
Before the edit you said it sounded like a done deal. . . Were you being over confident or do you really feel as if it's going to happen?
Isn't 2Pat the superstar we foolishly traded away? Shouldn't he be having dinner and trying to convince Howard to star twin towers 2.0 sac style instead of letting mere scrubs like Harden/Parsons try to steal him away? lol
Well let's just say it supposedly came directly out of the horses mouth. Supposedly being the key word.
Cool, thanks for posting this information, I would love to fast forward to July to get to the end of this.
I'm wondering if Mitch would allow Dwight to talk to other teams sooner, simply so he knows whether he's amnestying Pau or not.
If Dwight stays in LA for the next 5 years, he will NEVER win a ring with them....NEVER. By the time his contract is up, he'll be past his prime and will probably be the 3rd option on a championship team. I hope Dwight realizes this...
