Trade rumours will stay rumours as Lakers will not deal Centre.When Dwight Howard moved to the Lakers during the Summer, expectations reached an all time high as he was expected to be the final piece of an already star-studded puzzle that included Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol.
Inconsistency within his own play and the teams overall performance has led to questions as to whether Howard’s arrogant persona is to blame. Others believe that the All-Star Centre just does not fit the system and could be traded to lower their wage bill.
The player who was rumoured to take his place was Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who has been a sensation in the Celtics lineup ever since he was drafted there in 2006.
According to espn.com, LA Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak categorically denied the trade and also any trade involving the 7 foot centre.
“”I haven’t talked to Danny Ainge in weeks,” Kupchak told ESPN.
“I made the statement a week or two ago that we’re not going to trade Dwight Howard and that hasn’t changed.”
While trading Howard for Rondo seems like a superb deal for both teams, it simply wouldn’t happen.
The Boston Celtics run everything through Rondo, who is also out for the season after tearing his ACL, which makes the trade even more unlikely, and trading him would only hinder the Celtics in the long run.
For the Lakers, while not playing at a high level on a consistent basis, the self proclaimed ‘Superman’ is still one of the most imposing players under the basket, and his physical presence on both offence and defense will be missed greatly if he were to leave Los Angeles.
The Lakers are in a dangerous position, with the threat of missing the playoffs becoming increasingly larger with every week that passes, losing their All-Star player for a currently injured one just seems a pointless trade short-term and one that would only harm the Lakers playoff bid even more
While the media and fans always want to see huge trades like this happen, it is simply an unrealistic dream that will only happen on a computer game.
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