I don't think we've discussed enough just what NBA Commissioner David Stern did to this franchise with his backalley reversal of the Chris Paul trade (to the Houston Rockets as well). Not just for this season -- a year already compromised by the lockout and by Stern's skulduggery -- but for the next five years (or longer) as well. Two of the three franchise players on the club are on the way down. The other (Bynum) has shown little evidence of long-term health or drive or offense-expansion. Where is the future?
I know we're all asking Santa for Dwight Howard. But why would Howard now come here? The glamour has shifted to the red-and-blue unis. Jackson is gone. The team has nothing beyond the big three (and in a trade that three would shrink to two or one.) Would he come here to play with a mid-30s Kobe Bryant? If not that, why then? (And is that a reason?) There is NO CHANCE Howard would agree to a trade during the 2011-12 season when he'd have to play with no PG, no SF, and no bench (and a first year Laker coach). So perhaps a free-agent signing in July (if Magic GM Otis Smith is dumb enough to wait)? Again, why to L.A. and not Chicago or Dallas or Houston or even the Brooklyn Nets? All those teams have much better parts than the Lakers will have going down the road.
David Stern has draped crepe over this paper-thin franchise. Prediction: 33-33, 8th seed, 1st round and out. (And worse to come in future seasons.)
