Pau Gasol Wants Dwight Howard to Make Quick Decision

OK, those weren’t his exact words, but he understands the value of Superman making a quick decision.

Speaking with Sam Amick of USA Today, the Los Angeles Lakers big man touched upon Howard’s impending free-agent nuptials:

“Obviously from the team’s standpoint, the sooner Dwight makes his decision the better,” Pau said. “And as players and teammates too (it’s better), because in a way I don’t know — there’s certain things that depend on his decision, right? Probably. I don’t know what percentage (it factors in), or to what extent, but to some extent yes.”

Let the Pau Gasol trade rumors officially commence yet again.

I’m kidding. Sort of.

No doubt that is what Pau was partially referring to when he said “there’s certain things that depend on his decision,” but let’s face it, the Lakers shouldn’t trade Gasol.

Though the big man is coming off the worst season of his NBA career, he began to show signs of life in the playoffs. If that’s not enough to sell you on him staying, then Los Angeles’ financial outlook should be.

Pau’s contract is set to come off the books next season. He is one of the many reasons the Lakers are poised to have so much cap space in the summer of 2014. Short of trading him for a superstar stretch forward like Kevin Love (not going to happen), Tinseltown would be foolish to jeopardize its imminent financial flexibility just because.

But I digress…

This isn’t necessarily about Gasol. It’s about Howard, and the decision he has to make. We’ve discussed what Howard will potentially do to no end. Seriously, we have. Like here. And here. And here. And yet again here. What hasn’t been touched upon enough is the urgency of his inevitable decision—whatever it may be—for the Lakers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD1CbToPhCk

Dwight could re-sign with Los Angeles and everything be hunky dory. That’s been the plan all along. The Lakers know what they’ll do if that happens. But he could also sign elsewhere. Then what?

Well, the Lakers need to explore Plans B-Z, whatever those may be. They have heaps of cap space coming their way in 2014 and will need to formulate a plan on how to lure superstars in their primes—looking at you LeBron James—to Los Angeles.

Do they attempt to trade Pau yet again for a current superstar? Do they stand pat and attempt to work with what they have? Would the option of amnestying Kobe Bryant be explored once again?

Pigs will sooner fly and Dwight himself will sooner cease clowning before the latter happens. Still, the Lakers will have plenty of decisions of their own to make if Howard flees to the Houston Rockets. Or Dallas Mavericks. Or Atlanta Hawks. Or Cleveland Cavaliers. You get the point. Those decisions will become even more difficult to make if he takes his sweet-ass time ironing out the details of his escape.

Remember, the market for Howard is limited. Not because teams don’t want him, but because only a handful can afford him. And only a few of those are thought to interest the big man. Ergo, this won’t be a 2010 situation where the rest of the NBA waits until Howard signs to ink other players, make trades, etc. They’re going to go about business as usual, or close to it.

But the Lakers can’t. Not until Dwight decides. They can’t try to do anything. They can’t even attempt to assume he’ll re-sign, because history has taught us that Howard is anything but an open book. Ask the Orlando Magic.

The Lakers will be instead forced to wait it out. Their current plans hedge on Dwight re-signing, so they can’t do anything other than wait—impatiently.