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It's Official. The Lakers Land Dwight Howard
Howard in 2009 (Photo by adifansnet via Flickr)
Last night's speculation did turn out to be true, mostly. The important part was that the Lakers landed Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. That much was true. In the Lakers official press release, in addition to sending Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers the Lakers will also be sending Josh McRocberts, Christian Eyenga, a future protected first-round draft pick and their 2015 protected second-round draft pick to the Orlando Magic. In addition to Howard, the Lakerrs will also receive Chris Duhon and Earl Clark.
Howard is on the final year of his contract and has not given assurances that he would be willing to re-sign with the Lakers.
The Lakers now have the first player in NBA history to win three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Awards (2009-2011) while sending out Bynum much to the delight of handicap parking spots all across Los Angeles.
With a prospective starting five comprised of Howard, Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Ron Artest, the Lakers have jumped from 6/1 favorites to 3/1 favorites to win the NBA Championship this coming season, just behind the Miami Heat at 5/2 according to Bovada.lv.
So here's the final list of who got who:
* Lakers: Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, Earl Clark
* Denver Nuggets: Andre Iguodala
* Philadelphia 76ers: Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson
* Orlando Magic: Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless and a ton of draft picks
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