Lakers/Dwight Howard free agency

[nate]

Forget the sign and trade. Make him take a year less with less money.

 

Asik is pretty good.  In fact in a lot of ways I think he is better than Howard.

[Stradling]

So is it a done deal?

[Agalloch]

It's not official and there are many conflicting reports but most of them are basically saying he's gone which I'm 99.9% sure is true at this point.

[nate]

Honestly at this point I would Amnesty Kobe and tank for Wiggins.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

Good riddance. Start the rebuild process.

[Stradling]

Yea, I can't ever see a team like the Lakers taking that approach.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

I don't see the Lakers amnestying Kobe and I hope they don't. Say what you want about him as far as everything that happened over the years but I want to see him only ever play for the Lakers.

[SoWhat]

Sure are gonna have alot of money to play with next year

[St1ck]

yes!

[Punk]

Honestly at this point I would Amnesty Kobe and tank for Wiggins.

 

[HaloMilliVanilli]

I'm personally glad that he is gone.  Dwight Howard is NOT a Los Angeles Laker!  We didn't get hurt here other than maybe losing some time to discuss deals with other free agents.  We traded damaged goods in Andrew Bynum for damaged goods in D12.  If we hadn't been able to pull off that trade, we would've had Drew under contract this past season with no playing time to show for it.  And, we wouldn't have had the luxury of being involved in potential sign and trades.  We would've just let Drew go.  So now we're at basically the same point.

Moving on.

[xboom28x]

Honestly at this point I would Amnesty Kobe and tank for Wiggins.

 

Amnesty Kobe would be the stupidest move ever. Terrible message you send to all other potential free-agents/players drafted by the Lakers.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

No amnesty of Kobe please.  Just tell him not to rush back and thank him for his years of loyalty and service by keeping him as a lifelong Laker.  If it was me, I'd check the market on what we could get for Nash and Pau.  The other option is to bring in a couple of guys like Calderon and Dorelle Wright.  Is Metta getting amnestied?

[tennischmp]

All those that are happy Howard is gone for nothing hopefully you enjoy the Lakers sucking next year because I sure do not.

[Futch Winkleman]

Excellent choice, Dwight.

 

Welcome to H-Town.

[m0nkey]

I'm just praying to whatever god is in charge that lebron doesn't go to the lakers

[Redondo]

Howard told an additional source that the main reason he's leaving the Lakers is because he wasn't comfortable playing for coach Mike D'Antoni, ESPN's J.A. Adande reports.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9453005/dallas-m avericks-dwight-howard-sweepstakes-sources-say

[Agalloch]

All those that are happy Howard is gone for nothing hopefully you enjoy the Lakers sucking next year because I sure do not.

Which is why I think it's stupid that people want him gone. Yes, he's baby and pisses us all off but we can contend with him but without him we cannot, we'll be doomed for AT LEAST one year of suck. The suck will go on until we can lure FA to LA because a team with Kobe/Nash/Gasol isn't going to be a lottery team but they also aren't going to contend.

[Redondo]

Ira Winderman: Why would Dwight meet w/ Lakers? Because sign-and-trade still possible. Heat did it with LeBron and Bosh. Dwight gets more $, Lakers picks. Twitter @IraHeatBeat

 

Maybe the Lakers can get some picks after all.

[Redondo]

DWIGHTMARE AGAIN

Dwight Howard has changed his mind and has told the Lakers he's now 50-50 on re-signing with them, according to ESPN.com ...

[Tank]

Honestly at this point I would Amnesty Kobe and tank for Wiggins.

Sorry, I have a no trade contract. Not going anywhere.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

As a longtime Lakers fan (nearly 35 years), I don't enjoy watching an unappealing product.  I'm not made to very often either.  We have shown over and over again the ability to bounce back from small windows of misfortune, whether it be from an aging roster or injury.  This will be no different.  I was listening to Rick Fox speak about these negotiations and he said he'd tell Dwight what coach Dean Smith told Fox when Fox visited North Carolina before choosing a college.  "Rick, we're North Carolina.  Honestly, we're going to win.....with or without you.  You should join us and be a part of it".  If Dwight doesn't want to be a part of that, fine, but our future doesn't change.  We will win, be patient.

 

I applaud Mitch's ability to not react to the knee-jerk that you know he has had.  As of right now, we can run Pau out at center, Jordan HIll at PF, Metta at SF, Meeks at SG and Nash at point.  I would bet that Metta will be amnestied to allow the team to sign a couple of small pieces to fill in the roster.  Let Kobe slowly come back from his injury and get the best pick possible for next years draft.  I'm actually more upset that we lost Earl Clark than I am about losing Dwight.

[halobob]

Dwight is having a change of heart about leaving 30 mil on the table...now 50/50 rockets or lakers!  Per Bill Simmons tweet.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

To add to my previous post, we cannot win NEXT season with Gasol or Nash.  Trade Gasol to a team in need of a post player of Pau's skill-set for youth/picks.  Pau could potentially be re-signed after the 13-14' season at a much reduced rate to join the rebuild.  Same with Nash.  If we're going to not win a championship and probably watch a mediocre team at best, fully commit to the rebuild and maximize the suckage.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Dwight's new nickname, at least for me, is "Waffles".