Dwight to the Lakers… Really, It’s A Done Deal
During the hubbub of the United States winning their fourth gold medal in women’s football (it’s really soccer), the Lakers and 10% of the NBA were ironing out the details of easily the biggest trade in this NBA’s offseason. Call him a crybaby, or Superman, or anything in between, Dwight Howard finally is moving out of Orlando to the team that ironically enough defeated the Magic in the 2009 Finals, the L.A. Lakers. A four-team deal was just finalized that sent Howard, and 6 other players packing their bags and heading to a new city.
The table below shows who each team is receiving in the deal. Also to add on to that, the Magic will be receiving a protected first-round pick from EACH of the other three teams in the deal.
| Lakers | Sixers | Nuggets | Magic |
| Howard | Andrew Bynum | Andre Iguodala | Arron Afflalo |
| Jason Richardson | Al Harrington | ||
| Nikola Vucevic | |||
| Moe Harkless |
So after all is said and done, the Magic, who had to fight through the entire Dwight saga for the past two years don’t get a whole lot out of this deal. The one nice piece they do receive is Arron Afflalo, a defensive stopper who helped the Nuggets last year with his D and his presence from beyond the arc. Twitter has been a buzz tonight about the deal, and most, if not all people have thought the Magic didn’t get enough in the deal.
Basically, under these current parameters, three teams made out like bandits, and then there’s the Magic
— Mike Prada (@MikePradaSBN) August 10, 2012
Everybody else made out BUT Orlando. Yet the Magic had the most valuable asset. They couldn’t even unprotected picks out of the deal, man.
— Michael Smith (@michaelsmith) August 10, 2012
The Lakers finally add the piece they have been looking forward to all summer, Dwight Howard. The three-time Defensive Player of the year is headed to the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, joining Kobe, and Pau as a slightly older, but extremely talented “Big Three”. The addition of Howard all but guarantees that we will be seeing a lot of LA-OKC Western Conference Finals, giving the Lakers the key piece they needed to possibly knock off OKC, reversing what happened last year in the WC Semis, losing 4-1 at the hands of Durant and the Thunder.
After giving up their star in Andre Iguodala, the Sixers look to build on a fairly successful 2011-12 campaign by adding big man Andrew Bynum, a young star that could possibly resign in Philly which would be three-year, $60 million extension. But if he would wait till after the ’12-’13 season or wait to become a free agent after the season.
Last, but certainly not least, the Nuggets, who were one quarter from eliminating the Lakers last year in the Western Conference Quarterfinals pick up Iguodala, who can help the Nuggets immediately into a solid contender in the West. Iggy will help Denver, as they hope he will continue to play as a solid all-around star, building on the ’11-’12 season in which he averaged 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 and half assists per game