The Dwight drama may be nearing it's inevitable conclusion with news that Howard..."/> The Dwight drama may be nearing it's inevitable conclusion with news that Howard..."/>
Fansided

Dwight Howard Willing to Sign Long-Term with Lakers

By Josh Hill

Dwight Howard has informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he'd sign a long term contract with them if traded there. (Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE)
Dwight Howard has informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he'd sign a long term contract with them if traded there. (Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE) /
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The Dwight drama may be nearing it’s inevitable conclusion with news that Howard has given his blessings to the Lakers and has informed them he would sign long term if he was traded there according to sources.

Earlier last year the Lakers were beginning to get into talks with the Magic about getting Howard but after the league nixed their plans to get then Hornets guard Chris Paul, Los Angeles backed off the talks. But now that a trade with the Brooklyn Nets isn’t going to happen and Houston is still a long shot, the Lakers have propelled back to the front runners and now that Howard is willing to sign a long term deal, all that needs to be worked out is the finer details.

Meaning, who’s going to get traded where and who’s going to be involved in this latest Los Angles blockbuster.

Right now the Cleveland Cavaliers are wanting to get back into this whole mess after backing out when the Nets were counting on them to help them get a Howard deal done.

It’s looking like the Cav’s won’t back out this time because according to an outline provided to ESPN by one of their “sources very close to the situation” Cleveland would land Andrew Bynum in exchange for Anderson Varejao and a package of draft picks. That package would go to Los Angeles for Bynum and then the Lakers would send Varejao and the draft picks to the Magic for Howard.

LAKERS GET:

MAGIC GET:

CAVALIERS GET:

  • C – Dwight Howard (from ORL)

  • C – Anderson Varejao (from CLE)
  • Draft Pick Package

  • C – Andrew Bynum (from LA)

Now on the surface, that seems like an outrageously tilted deal with the Cavaliers somehow ending up the biggest winners and the Magic still appearing to be the losers. Anderson Varejao is a decent player and gives the Magic something decent to begin rebuilding with, but even with draft picks he’s not worth Dwight Howard. But the Magic are up against the wall here and the draft picks would be Cleveland’s so there’s a decent chance that they could be lottery picks.

This might be the best possible deal they get from here on out.

But with Bynum in Cleveland with Dion Waiters and Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving — broken hand or not– the Cav’s are looking like the could join the Pacers and overtake the Chicago Bulls in the Central and make the playoffs. Chicago is without Derrick Rose next season meaning the road to the Eastern Conference playoffs is wide open from Miami down.

And it’s not like the Magic, with Varejao replacing Howard, aren’t going to be a lottery team themselves for the next few years. Not every draft from here on out will be as deep as this past draft so Orlando still seems to be losing on this one.

But they’re losing Dwight Howard — Superman. There’s not a whole lot of ways you can win in that situation.

The next concern for the Lakers is Howard’s back. He had surgery this offseason and may not be ready to start 2013 at 100 percent. But with the long term deal commitment already taken care of, the Lakers just need to monitor his back for the future.

No deal has been made official yet, but with Howard verbally committing long term to the Lakers, it’s only a matter of time before we have a seismic shift in the NBA and Superman flies to the other side of the country and another NBA conference.

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