The Los Angeles Lakers need to decide if they would be better off re-signing 27-year old center Dwight Howard to a long term deal or deal him in a sign and trade.  Howard played in 76 games (all starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 35.8 minutes, 17.1 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.4 blocked shots per game.  He has now played in 697 games (696 starts) in his first nine years in the NBA and he is averaging 36.1 minutes, 18.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.2 blocked shots per game.  Personally, I think the Lakers should re-sign Howard because he’s the best center in the NBA right now.

The Lakers have been playing big man ball against the Spurs, but they have little choice due to injuries to Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant and now Steve Blake.  Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol have been doing their parts to help the Lakers win.  Howard has started both games against the Spurs so far and he is averaging 37.5 minutes, 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 3.0 blocked shots per game.  Gasol has started both games against the Spurs and he is averaging 39.0 minutes, 14.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  I have little doubt that Howard and Gasol will keep playing at a high level against the Spurs, but they are going to need help if they are going to have any chance of coming back in this series.

33-year old point guard Steve Blake is doing a solid job of replacing the injured Steve Nash so far in April.  Blake has played in 7 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far in April and he is averaging 37.3 minutes, 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Blake is shooting 46.6% from the floor, 42.9% from three point range and 83.3% from the floor so far this month, which is pretty impressive.  Blake has now played in 44 games (12 starts) overall this year for the Lakers and he is averaging 25.5 minutes, 6.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.  The Lakers hope that Blake keeps up the good work moving forward.

36-year old power forward Antawn Jamison is playing with a small tear in his wrist, but he’s gutting it out to try to help the Lakers make it to the playoffs.  Jamison has played in 29 games (1 start) since February 1st and he is averaging 24.2 minutes, 11.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He has now played in 69 games (6 starts) overall this year and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 9.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  The Lakers need Jamison to keep up the good work as he is helping fill the void left by Metta World Peace’s injury.

The lightbulb has finally went on above 27-year old center Dwight Howard’s head in March, as he is almost all the way back to the dominating center he was in Orlando.  He has played in 10 games (all starts) so far in March and he is averaging 38.6 minutes, 17.4 points, 15.2 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 1.3 steals and 2.8 blocked shots per game.  Howard has now played in 63 games (all starts) overall this year for the Lakers and he is averaging 35.4 minutes, 16.4 points, 12.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.4 blocked shots per game.  It’s perfect timing for Howard to try to carry the load, as Kobe Bryant is hurting right now.

33-year old point guard Steve Blake has been giving the Lakers solid work behind Steve Nash lately.  Since February 1st, Blake has played in 17 games (0 starts) in which he is averaging 19.5 minutes, 5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.  He has now played in 26 games (5 starts) overall this year for the Lakers and he is averaging 20.9 minutes, 5.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.  The Lakers need Blake to stay healthy and productive, so that they can watch Steve Nash’s workload the rest of the way in 2012-13.

36-year old forward Antawn Jamison is heating up in February for the Lakers.  He has played in 11 games (1 start) so far this month for the Lakers and he is averaging 26.0 minutes, 12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  He has now played in 51 games (6 starts) overall this year for the Lakers and he is averaging 21.1 minutes, 8.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  The Lakers finally wised up, as Jamison is one of the better players on the team.

39-year old point guard Steve Nash has played pretty well when healthy for the Lakers so far this year.  He has played in 31 games (all starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 32.9 minutes, 11.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game.  He is shooting 52.1% from the floor, 42% from three point range and 91.9% from the free throw line so far this year, which is very impressive.  Last night against the Celtics, Nash passed up Magic Johnson (10,141 assists) in the NBA’s all-time leader list as he now has 10,144 of them…which has him in 4th place in the history of the league.

The Lakers are sending 34-year old shooting guard Kobe Bryant and 27-year old center Dwight Howard to the All-Star Game as starters.  Bryant has played in 46 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 38.7 minutes, 28.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  He has played in 13 All-Star Games (all starts) so far in his career and he is averaging 27.8 minutes, 20.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.7 steals per game.  Howard has played in 43 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 34.7 minutes, 16.5 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.4 blocked shots per game.  He is shooting 57.7% from the floor, but only 49.6% from the free throw line so far this year.  Howard has played in 6 All-Star Games (5 starts) so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 26.5 minutes, 13.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  The Lakers should be well represented at the All-Star Game this year.

You can’t blame 33-year old shooting guard Kobe Bryant for his team’s dismal 18-25 record so far this year.  He has played in 43 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 38.8 minutes, 28.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  Kobe is trying his best to elevate the rest of the team, but he can’t win games by himself, no matter how hard he tries at times.  25-year old Jodie Meeks has been giving Kobe a rest whenever he needs one.  Meeks has played in 39 games (0 starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 17.7 minutes, 7.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  He is only shooting 38.6% from the floor and 36.5% from three point range so far this year and that just isn’t going to cut it.