Ty Nowell / Lakers.com
Let's Party Like It's 1996! For those of you who need a refresher course, 1996 was the year that then-Lakers General Manager Jerry West brought the original NBA Superman (Shaquille O'Neal) and Kobe Bryant to Los Angeles. With the addition of Steve Nash and now Dwight Howard to the Lake Show, next season is gearing up to be a totally awesome one for Lakers fans. Of course, Shaq and Kobe didn't win their first championship together till four years later...and this summer can be a repeat of 2003—when the Lakers totally seemed indestructible with the additions of Karl Malone and Gary Payton to the team roster, only to see this All-Star squad get squashed by the likes of Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince in June of 2004. Whatever. Welcome to the City of Angels, D12!
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Lakers Acquire Dwight Howard (Press Release)
EL SEGUNDO – The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired three-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic in a four-team trade, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak. In addition to Howard, the Lakers will receive Chris Duhon and Earl Clark from the Magic while sending Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga and a future protected first round and 2015 protected second round draft pick to Orlando. Andrew Bynum will be sent to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Howard, the first player in NBA history to earn three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Awards (2009, 2010, 2011), has been named First Team All-NBA in each of the past five seasons (Third Team in 2006-07), First Team All-Defense in each of the past four seasons (Second Team in 2007-08) and has made six consecutive All-Star appearances for the Eastern Conference (five straight starts).
Selected by the Magic with the first overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, Howard has appeared in 621 career regular season games, averaging 18.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.01 steals and 2.16 blocks in 36.2 minutes. Owning the fifth best career field goal percentage (.577) in NBA history, Howard has finished ranked among the league's top 10 in field goal accuracy in each of his eight NBA seasons while having led the NBA in total rebounds six times and in blocks twice.
A member of the USA Men's Senior National Team that captured the Gold Medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, this past season, Howard appeared in 54 games, averaging 20.6 points, 2.15 blocks and career-bests in rebounds (14.5), assists (1.9), steals (1.5) and minutes (38.3).
"We'd like to thank Andrew for all he's done for the team and the organization," said Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak. "Andrew has been with us since we drafted him at seventeen years old and over the last seven years we have watched him develop into an All-Star player who has helped the team win two NBA Championships. He's a special talent with a bright future. We appreciate all of his contributions and wish him well for the remainder of his career."
"We also appreciate the contributions that Josh and Christian made," said Kupchak. "Although they were only with us for a short period of time, they worked hard both on and off the court and were well respected by their teammates. We wish them the best of luck in the future."
Duhon has appeared in 560 career regular season games with Chicago, New York and Orlando, averaging 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 26.3 minutes. Drafted by Chicago with the 38th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft after helping Duke to three ACC Championships, two NCAA Final Four appearances and an NCAA National Championship in 2000-01, Duhon finished his four-season collegiate career as the only player in ACC history with at least 1,000 points, 800 assists, 475 rebounds, 300 steals and 125 three-pointers. Last season with the Magic, Duhon averaged 3.8 points, 2.4 assists and 19.5 minutes in 63 games.
Drafted by the Phoenix Suns with 14th overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, Clark has averaged 3.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 10.2 minutes in 138 games over three seasons with the Suns and Magic. The 6-10 forward out of Louisville averaged 2.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.7 blocks and 12.4 minutes in 45 games with Orlando last season.
Bynum, originally selected by the Lakers with the 10th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, averaged 18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.93 blocks this past season while earning Second Team All-NBA honors. A seven-year veteran and two-time NBA Champion with the Lakers who was named to his first All-Star Team in February, Bynum averaged 11.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.60 blocks over 392 career games in Los Angeles.
Source: Lakers.com
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