Hold the Phone On Howard, Lakers

                The Dwight Howard sweepstakes are finally over. Personally, I couldn't be happier. I got a little tired of hearing new rumors every day, but it's all in the past now. Now with the Lakers adding Howard there is a lot of talk that they are now the favorites to win the West. This I am definitely not sold on. Yes, the Lakers have, on paper, a starting five that most teams can only dream of. In fact, with the five of Bryant, Howard, Gasol, Nash, and World Peace they have a combined 33 All-Star games between them. But, it's not easy to win championships. Also, any time you add pieces to the puzzle it takes time for it all to mesh together. This is especially true when you add significant pieces to the puzzle like the Lakers did. For a real-life example, we need to look no further than two summers ago when the Miami Heat assembled their infamous Big 3. The Heat struggled badly to start off the season, and their first season together did not end in a title. Will it end that way for the Lakers? Who knows. But, we do know the road to the title will certainly not be an easy one.

            So, before everyone jumps on the Lakers bandwagon and declares them the favorites there are certain things we need to remember. We need to remember that Pau Gasol experienced a decline in his statistics last season and is probably in the back nine of his career. We need to remember that while Kobe is still Kobe, he's getting older too. We need to also remember that Steve Nash is a liability on defense and might actually be the worst defensive point guard in the NBA. Lastly, we need to remember that Dwight Howard is a head case. To this point, Howard has remained noncommittal about signing a long-term deal with the Lakers. Let's say the Lakers season starts poorly and Howard shuts it down and starts complaining about the team, just like he did in Orlando. If the Lakers struggle and don't appear to be contenders, there is no way Howard will sign a long-term deal then.

            Now, I'm not saying that there is no way this will work out. The Lakers have a ton of talent on their roster and will probably win a lot of games based on pure talent. But, let's not put a crown on anybody just yet. There are a lot of good teams within just the Western Conference that pose a threat to Lakers. And let's not forget about that team that won the West last year, the Thunder. All this talk about the Lakers being the team to beat now, that wouldn't be any motivation for the Thunder would it? Oh wait...of course it would.