Is Dwight Howard the Missing Key to the Lakers Puzzle?

courtesy of latimes.com

The Miami Big 3 have been outnumbered...The San Antonio Spurs have been outsmarted.... The Oklahoma City Thunder's stronghold on the Western Conference has been loosened... but The Lakers are not a perfect team, nor are they foolproof picks to win the 2013 NBA title just because Dwight Howard now graces a roster that also includes Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash. But any bet on them to edge out top challengers involves smarter money than it did a few days ago, The Lakers are getting the most lockdown defense center in the league, someone who has lead the league in rebounding six of the last seven years, and is capable of averaging 20 points per game. Some say Dwight Howard can't solve the Lakers 3 point shooting and perimeter defense problems... I say otherwise. His muscular frame will draw such a crowd underneath the basket that his teammates will often find themselves open around the three-point arc, and though Howard can't rejuvenate the aging legs of Bryant and Nash he will provide an unrivaled second line of defense on the occasions when speedsters such as Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul blow past their Lakers counterparts.

Nash might just be the happiest new Laker. He gets to run the pick-and-roll with Howard and Gasol, quite the upgrade over former Phoenix Suns teammates Marcin Gortat and Channing Frye, and let's also not forget that Gasol is one of the best passing big men in the league and Bryant is still one of the game's most dynamic talents who remains hellbent on collecting a ring for his other hand. Even the Lakers' bench is better, sixth man Antawn Jamison is capable of scoring on any given night the 21 points the Lakers' reserves cumulatively averaged last season, and newly acquired shooting guard Jodie Meeks will allow Coach Mike Brown to give Bryant more extended breathers than he received in their first season together.

Now crowning the Lakers champions already is extremely foolish, especially since Howard won't be ready 1-2 months into the season due to his back injury. The Thunder are still every bit as potent, the Heat look better than ever, and the Spurs aren't going anywhere, but all should be looking over their shoulders because Mitch Kupchak has put together a Lakers team that hasn't been this good on paper since the early 2000's.