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I think if the Lakers miss the playoffs Howard things are very likely to get nasty between him, Kobe and Lakers fans. In that situation I think it's very likely that Howard would leave in free agency. As a result, the Lakers need to think about trading Howard.

So far no votes for "keep him no matter what"... I'm a bit surprised.

At any indication he is bolting in the offseason.

Keep him unless he demands out. But after last year's PR nightmare, he won't demand out either.

loserX wrote:Keep him unless he demands out. But after last year's PR nightmare, he won't demand out either.

But he doesn't have to demand out, he can just leave as an UFA.

I believe you keep him until this summer, for two reasons:

A. He may choose to re-sign with the Lakers.

B. If not, the Lakers may gain value from a sign-and-trade if he names more than one potential place he'd sign a longterm deal with.

If you trade him before, then his value is that of a rental, plus THEY get to run the risk that he will sign with them or a couple other teams. It guarantees that he will never be a Laker - you won't have the cap space vs signing him with Bird rights.

Trade him to the Clippers for DeAndre Jordan, Odom and Bledsoe

shrink wrote:I believe you keep him until this summer, for two reasons:

A. He may choose to re-sign with the Lakers.

B. If not, the Lakers may gain value from a sign-and-trade if he names more than one potential place he'd sign a longterm deal with.

If you trade him before, then his value is that of a rental, plus THEY get to run the risk that he will sign with them or a couple other teams. It guarantees that he will never be a Laker - you won't have the cap space vs signing him with Bird rights.

I think the biggest issue with a Howard trade is this and also the fact that if they start making calls to teams about him, then teams will assume he has told the Lakers that he wants to sign with X team who has cap space, so it's likely a rental. I doubt any team would give up really significant assets for Howard with his play this year if the Lakers decide to move him.

pacers33granger wrote:

shrink wrote:I believe you keep him until this summer, for two reasons:

A. He may choose to re-sign with the Lakers.

B. If not, the Lakers may gain value from a sign-and-trade if he names more than one potential place he'd sign a longterm deal with.

If you trade him before, then his value is that of a rental, plus THEY get to run the risk that he will sign with them or a couple other teams. It guarantees that he will never be a Laker - you won't have the cap space vs signing him with Bird rights.

I think the biggest issue with a Howard trade is this and also the fact that if they start making calls to teams about him, then teams will assume he has told the Lakers that he wants to sign with X team who has cap space, so it's likely a rental. I doubt any team would give up really significant assets for Howard with his play this year if the Lakers decide to move him.

you trade him the second you believe he wont resign.

the lakers are not trading howard under any circumstances.

Golabki wrote:I think if the Lakers miss the playoffs Howard things are very likely to get nasty between him, Kobe and Lakers fans.

and you base this opinion on what exactly?

PetroNet wrote:

pacers33granger wrote:

shrink wrote:I believe you keep him until this summer, for two reasons:

A. He may choose to re-sign with the Lakers.

B. If not, the Lakers may gain value from a sign-and-trade if he names more than one potential place he'd sign a longterm deal with.

If you trade him before, then his value is that of a rental, plus THEY get to run the risk that he will sign with them or a couple other teams. It guarantees that he will never be a Laker - you won't have the cap space vs signing him with Bird rights.

I think the biggest issue with a Howard trade is this and also the fact that if they start making calls to teams about him, then teams will assume he has told the Lakers that he wants to sign with X team who has cap space, so it's likely a rental. I doubt any team would give up really significant assets for Howard with his play this year if the Lakers decide to move him.

you trade him the second you believe he wont resign.

I'd agree with you both, but Howard is so indecisive, he may tell you one day he won't re-sign, and the next he'll say he's 100% going to re-sign!

At this point, I don't think anyone can accept a word out of his mouth until a team can actually sign him to a contract and guarantee he's on their team for the next 3-4 years.

At what point do you consider trading the OP?

Why trade Dwight,do you really think he will leave a extra 30mil on the table?

If he didn't care about money he would have became a FA last season and signed with Brooklyn,you know why he didn't do it? Because he would lose a extra 30 mil.

LA is not trading Dwight, the owner even said that they wouldn't trade Dwight.

Golabki wrote:

loserX wrote:Keep him unless he demands out. But after last year's PR nightmare, he won't demand out either.

But he doesn't have to demand out, he can just leave as an UFA.

Exactly. So he won't say anything, so the Lakers won't (and shouldn't) trade him.

Dwight is part of the post-Kobe succession plan in Los Angeles. You don't give up on that until you know for a fact it won't work. It could end up biting them if he leaves, but they won't throw in the towel early.

as soon as he tells you to

As soon as you discover that you have losing season and that he is the only piece you can trade to make your team better.