The Los Angeles Lakers Were Lucky To Trade Andrew Bynum

By Jamieson Welsh
Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

This past Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers played the Philadelphia 76ers in what was supposed to be the first time that Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum played against each other since the blockbuster trade that went down in the summer.

Bynum being hurt is nothing new and at this point it’s to be expected. This is why the Lakers dodged a huge bullet when they traded Bynum for Howard. The Lakers have been known to move on from a player a year earlier rather than a year later. With Bynum, there were a lot of signs of caution because of his immaturity and injury history.

The biggest problem with Bynum is that he was very spoiled and part of that was due to the organization and how the front office handled him. Very few players get the benefit of getting paid a lot of money and not being in the closing minutes of games like Bynum was. Even though he always showed great promise as a player, he wasn’t stable enough to be the face of the franchise.

Now since the trade has went down, the 76ers have gotten zero production out of him on the court. Bynum has been more known for his hairstyle and bowling abilities rather than his play this year. It has also even rumored that the 76ers are open to trading Bynum.

Bynum has been accustomed to playing in the limelight of Los Angeles and enjoying the things that come with that. Since the moment he has landed in Philadelphia he has shown no effort to get back on the court with any urgency.

I get the feeling that Bynum is going to drag this out just long enough to comeback in March and play just well enough to trick someone into give him the maximum he is eligible for this summer.

At the end of the day, I would like to see Bynum mature and be the player he is capable of becoming while being injury free. The Lakers got the better end of this deal. At the moment, Howard is playing near an all-star level and Bynum is trying out different perm looks. Even if Howard were to leave the Lakers this summer they would’ve dodged the bullet that is Andrew Bynum.

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