Yep, The Lakers Are Still The Lakers

If I needed another reason to hate the Lakers, this is it.

Lakers Get: Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, Earl Clark
76ers Get: Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson
Nuggets Get: Andre Iguodala
Magic Get: Crap

Let's break this down a litter farther.

Magic: Amazing to me the Magic held out as long as they did trading Howard and they still got shit back for him. Not even the "protected" draft picks are that great because they're "protected" meaning if the either the Lakers or Philly become bad enough that they fall into the lottery, they keep the picks and the Magic get nothing. The Magic also wanted to get rid of their salary cap space clogging contracts and didn't even get rid of the worst one, Hedo. Add to the fact they didn't get Bynum and the Magic might have pulled off the worst trade in all of sports history.

Nuggets: The Nuggets sneaked into this trade and grabbed Iguodala creating what could be one of the funnier teams to watch next season. Lawson, Faried, Javale, Andre Miller, Gallinari, and Iguodala is going to be great fun to watch. Too bad the Nuggets will still not be able to get out of the first round..........

76ers: There are pros and cons to this trade

Con- Bynum and Doug Collins smells like trouble. Collins, a notorious asshole, teaming up with someone who trolls the shit out of his own coaches has disaster written all over it. I can only imagine Bynum doing this leading Collins to do this. I might buy League Pass just to witness this moment. You know it's going to happen.

Pro- Philly has a history of adopting troublemakers. Broad Street Bullies, Iverson, Lenny Dykstra, etc. Bynum couldn't pick a better city to play for.

Con- Philly fans turn on Bynum the first time he gets hurt or they have enough of his act. Then this will end badly no matter what. (And once Philly fan turns, it's over. See: TO, JD Drew, Lindross)

Pro- Bynum instantly makes this team interesting to watch. Philly made the playoffs last year but they weren't always the funniest or most interesting team to watch. Bynum at least makes them interesting.

Lakers: Like the Sixers there are pros and cons to this deal.

Pro- Lakers receive one of the 5 best players in the league and the best center of the league when there aren't a lot of centers in the NBA at the moment. Lakers also get Howard in his prime, will keep him during his prime, and then can get rid of him when he's no longer useful and trade for Anthony Davis (I'll guarantee Davis somehow ends up with the Lakers in 8 years). I hate the Lakers.

Con- Howard is coming off back surgery. He's a professional athlete and will probably recover from this and not have to worry about it again. (Just my luck Howard will never have a back problem again.) Still though it's back surgery. Bad backs usually don't go away.

Pro- Somehow the Lakers kept Pau Gasol. So not only do the Lakers have someone who can play 5 feet in front of the basket, but they also kept one of the few players who legitimately can play away from the basket because he has low post moves. I hate the Lakers.

Con- Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant are the combined age of my father.

Pro- Nash pick-and-rolling with Howard and Gasol.

Con- Bryant still jacking up 25 shots a night and forgetting about Howard and Gasol. (What am I saying? This is actually a pro!)

It's amazing but the Lakers are still the Lakers. If there's a player they really want, they'll get him somehow unless Stern vetoes the trade. This is a big reason why I've always had a love/hate relationship with the NBA. Love the athleticism and beauty of the NBA, hate the fact there are only a couple of teams each year that are contenders. The Lakers are a contender with this move.