How Does Kobe's Injury Affect Dwight's Free Agency ?

Kobe amnesty, trade gasol for cap space, sign D12 and JSmoove, win 45 games.

 

It depends on what his priorities are. If he wants to win a championship, there are far better situations out there than the Lakers. Atlanta, Houston, even Dallas will all likely contend for a title sooner than L.A. Even if Kobe somehow comes back playing close to his current level(albeit a year older), this is not a good team. They had to run their best player out there for 45-48 minutes a night just to eek their way into the 8th seed, and even that's not clinched yet with the Spurs and Rockets on tap.

Now if Dwight wants to be the man on offense and get paid as much as possible(setting aside the insane taxes in California), resigning with the Lakers would be a no-brainer. But he's gonna be waiting a while for the franchise to contend fo a title again. They're not gonna win squat this year or next. And beyond that all depends on how successful they are in dumping these huge contracts and reloading their roster. Not an easy task, especially if 20 mil is committed to Howard.

 

Said it in the GARM, will say it here, too:

Dwight doesn't want "his team". That's exactly why he left Orlando. It's not about the market -- Dallas is no different than Houston in that regard, and they were always on his "list". Why? Dirk and the fact that they seemed to be winners. He didn't mind being in Orlando in 2008 and 2009 when they were seen as "on the cusp" contenders. Dwight was happy and you didn't hear a peep out of him. He only objected when it became clear the team had peaked and wouldn't be able to win a title without a significant rebuild.

Dwight wants a 1A/1B setup. He doesn't want the responsibility of being "the guy" along with the near certainty that a team with Dwight as its only superstar won't contend.

 

I think Dwight is gonna stay in LA and They're gonna build around him

 

WTG all we need is a big man

 

"But he was there for the second half of the second year after he left"

 

To be fair, you have no chance whatsoever beating the Thunder and Heat in a 7 game series without another star.

 

Dwights priority is to be "the man" in either New York or L.A., no matter the team.

If it was about winning a ring, he could have gone to Chicago. But he wants to be in a situation where the most eyes are on him - the bigger the market, the bigger the ego-stroke.

Kobe getting injured only opens the door for this diva

 

I think Howard is more likely to stay now than before. He wasn't meshing with Kobe, and he was probably dreading another season before he can be done with Kobe. Now, Kobe's Laker days are done and there's no one in the way of Dwight trying to be the leader. I think if he's egomaniacal enough that he thinks he can win championships as the best player on the team, he'll stay; if he's smart enough to know he should be a second fiddle, he'll leave, with the Rockets actually being a pretty logical destination. But, I think he's more egomaniacal than smart.

 

Kobe says he's going to be aiming to return in 6-9 months mid way thru next year, so yeah, no being the man for Dwight.

 

warmly wlecomed dwight