Showtime Holiday Shopping – Howard or Paul?

The pressing Lakers question coming into this Lockout-shortened season is how will the Lakers rebound from getting ousted from last season’s playoffs by the eventual World Champion Dallas Mavericks? The answer is as straight-forward as it gets – by infusing the roster with some much needed elite talent. The Lakers have always been frontrunners in the trading and free agent game, and this season is no different.

The short list of elite talent undoubtedly begins and ends with Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. While both would be exceptional homerun additions, acquiring both is for the most part an extremely unlikely prospect due to the amount of swapping chips the Lakers’ current roster possesses. So which superstar would be a better fit for the Lakers’ needs? Which player would fit the best based on what L.A. would be left with after what they would trade away?

Los Angeles’s finest professional franchise has always been about one thing, winning championships and doing it with a dominant big man. Down through the years legends the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal have lead the Lakers to numerous rings. This makes Dwight Howard an obvious first target for the purple and gold.

Yes, they need help at point guard and yes, an aging Derek Fisher and a meek Steve Blake are not the ultimate answer. But what separates the ideas of trading for Howard or trading for Paul?

First and foremost, Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol would certainly frontline a package of players going to either Orlando or New Orleans for the services of Howard or Paul.

If you give up Bynum, you need a centerpiece in return. If you give up Gasol for Paul, you will probably be parting ways with Lamar Odom as well, and that scenario would leave a gaping hole at the forward position, a hole that no team with any real championship aspirations could weather and still be considered contenders. That is, of course, unless they got some frontline help in return with Paul.

If the Lakers were to deal a Bynum package for Paul, they would be left with a gaping hole in the middle. Pau Gasol would be left to hold down the middle alone, night in and night out, and let’s face it, that’s not Pau’s game. You would be leaving your only semblance of a big man susceptible to injury or fatigue, especially considering this year’s condensed schedule. Not to mention, this scenario would also go directly against what new coach Mike Brown’s system is based on, not running and gunning and ballet lay-ups, but hard-nosed defense and power offense.

While it is understood that the addition of Paul could do a great deal ignite new coach Mike Brown’s San Antonio Spurs-like high screen-roll and high-post offensive sets, having an all-time great guard like Kobe Bryant makes obtaining Paul all that much less necessary when compared to the prospect of bringing in Howard.

Bryant has showed throughout his career that he can play any role that is needed for an offense to be successful, including ball-handler and facilitator. Just look what Brown was able to do with LeBron James in Cleveland? LeBron is no 6’ 0” jitterbug and he was able to distribute like Magic Johnson. Much could be the same with Kobe Bryant, especially in his aging years.

And while offense racks up win after win in the regular season, anyone with any sense of basketball history understands that defense ultimately wins in the playoffs. We all know Paul can dribble circles around anyone and can get a teammate an open shot as good as anyone in the league. We all know Paul can swipe away a few steals a game. But to compare that idea with the idea of the most dominant inside presence in the league and perpetual defensive player of the year is not even a debate.

The true trump card in the argument however is position scarcity. There are a few point guards in the league with equal or near equal talent level when compared to Chris Paul. Deron Williams may be a better overall point guard. Derrick Rose is the next big thing in the league and can finish better than anyone his size. Rajon Rondo still has upside and can create for others just as well as Paul can. Steve Nash still does everything a point guard is expected to do well and has a few elite years left. John Wall has mount Everest-esqe upside and will rival Derrick Rose as the best point guard in the league in the coming years.

The bottom line – there IS no one in the league like Dwight Howard. And to have that type of advantage at the most scarce position in the league is a fact the Lakers cannot overlook.

So I say roll out the red carpet for Superman 2.0. And CP3, while it would be great for you to join the fold, and any other year a once-in-a-generation type of talent like Dwight Howard wouldn’t be in the picture you would undoubtedly be first on the list.

Don’t settle for courting Mercury when you can lasso Jupiter. But who knows, if there is anyone who can corral an entire solar system, it’s the Lakers.