Lakers or bust deal is my call. Both are holding out for a last second stab at this deal.

Gasol,Bynum, 1st and 2nd round picks this year....and I actually think the Lakers would do it....

Orl needs to put a player int he deal to match salaries.

Lakers front office is vacant, scouts, etc all fired. Mitch has his marching orders...get Howard at all costs.

Kobe is coming to the end, they need the star!!!!

Having a star is LA! It fills the courtside seats with Celeb $$$$...it can't be duplicated,,Kareem,,,Shaq,,,and now D Howard...

With D Howard, Kobe COULD win another title this year...in NJ...they need to build around him.,,

and if I asked you would you rather be in LA or New Jersey?

i'm sure Orlando would love to take Joe Johnson

this is bynums first good year and first year he has not got hurt...taj/noah and 2 firsts is better than bynum..much better

I think the Lakers shpile just offer Bynum straight up for Howard. Bynum is much better than anything any other team is going to offer. The Magic would be stupid to turn the deal down because Dwight will walk for sure this summer and it could set them back a few years if they lose him for nothing and are stuck with a post-LeBron Cavs-like roster.

I agree they want a star. But Otis Smith is a terrible GM. I doubt he'll outfox Mitch. Mitch would be stupid to give up Gasol in the package. The Magic have much more to lose by not doing the deal than the Lakers do. No matter what the Lakers will still have a top 2 center next season. Orlando doesn't have that guarantee.

What if the Lakers held on to everyone, and still got Dwight Howard? That would be the best!

Impossible. I would argue the Lakers biggest need is a PG.

The Lakers have basically fired their staff! They are going to make one huge push for Howard and if not, new staff of scouts, etc looking towards the future

I wonder what Orlando would think of:

Brook Lopez
MarShon Brooks
Mehmut Okur (To make the salaries match)
#1 Picks (They have their own, they also own Houston's.)

I wonder what Orlando would think of:

Brook Lopez
MarShon Brooks
Mehmut Okur (To make the salaries match)
#1 Picks (They have their own, they also own Houston's.)

Lopez is hurt again SHARK with an ankle. He's supposedly looking at a 3 week window.

The Dallas situation is muddled. I can't imagine there's anybody on that team the Magic would want. Anybody who's anybody on the Mavs are old. So if Howard ends up in Dallas, he won't be doing so via trade. If he wants to sign with them in the summer, it's possible. But the Mavs don't appear to be in position to bring in BOTH Howard and Williams.
The Mavericks are saddled with the relatively large contracts of Marion and Haywood for at least the next couple of seasons.
Between Dirk, Marion and Haywood, and a couple other minor contracts, that's $40 million right there against next years cap.
It also means letting Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, Lamar Odom and Vince Carter all walk.
Not sure where the Mavs sit with their amnesty provision.

Pretty sure DB mentioned this before, but isn't the window to amnesty over ?
And KS, i was assuming the plan all along was to let Terry, Kidd Odom and Carter walk
what the hell do they care aobut Carter and the other 3 are getting old
i thought their whole plan was like Miami's, to clear enough space for 3 big deals- i.e. Dirk, Howard, Williams

You can amnesty any player that you had under contract before the most recent CBA was signed. It cannot be a player that re-signed after the CBA, or a player you traded for after the signing of the CBA. And you can only amnesty a player in the off-season. This is available to teams until this CBA expires, and they can only use it one time.

I thought teams could use the amnesty clause once under the terms of the new NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement...

You can amnesty any player that you had under contract before the most recent CBA was signed. It cannot be a player that re-signed after the CBA, or a player you traded for after the signing of the CBA. And you can only amnesty a player in the off-season. This is available to teams until this CBA expires, and they can only use it one time.