The Los Angeles Lakers were swept out of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs and in Game 4 Dwight Howard was ejected, possibly ending his tenure with the team as he is a free agent and could leave for teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets or Atlanta Hawks next season depending on what he decides.
Many feel that Howard is done in Los Angeles after a tough season, but the Lakers have expressed interest in keeping him since he is one of the best players in the NBA and after losing 103-82 on Sunday, Howard said he is going to take time and clear his head before figuring out what he will do next year. The team dealt with injuries to Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash and now Howard may also end up being out of lineup and with another team.
The Lakers had high hopes when they traded for Howard, but noting worked out this past season and now it is likely he will move on to a different team after playing with the Magic and Lakers. He was ejected from the game and the team went just 45-37 this past season, making it into the playoffs as the seventh seed and they were unable to stay competitive against the Spurs. The Lakers feel that the trade was worth it and they will make a play for Howard no matter what he ends up doing. Since he is with the Lakers he can sign a five-year deal and if he decided to go elsewhere he can sign a four year deal.
This past season Howard dealt with a bad back and averaged 17.1 points and led the league with 12.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks while being an All-Star and one of the most dominant centers in basketball. When Bryant went down the team was finally starting to play better, but things fell apart without him and that was evident when Howard was ejected on Game 4 after playing just 21 minutes and snagging eight boards.
The team still has talent with Nash and Pau Gasol, but losing Howard would be a big blow and no matter what happens, the team will have to deal with starting out next season without Bryant, who will still be rehabbing from his Achilles injury. Howard had a hard time getting used to playing in LA and at first him and Bryant had a frosty relationship that appeared to cool as the season went on.
Just as things were turning around Bryant got hurt and Howard ended the season the same way Andrew Bynum did when he was ejected from a game and that is not a comparison Dwight should want. Howard should stay in LA to continue the legacy of George Mikan and Shaq, but it is unclear if he will do that. Since Bryant will miss most of next season if not the entire season, Howard can use that to see if LA is the right fit for him or not.