D12 to Houston: Good Riddance - jijobiku's Blog

jijobiku's Blog

D12 to Houston: Good Riddance

Posted on July 6, 2013 at 01:13 AM.

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One year ago, the excitement of seeing Kobe, Nash, Dwight, and even Pau Gasol on one team was unbelievable. Everyone believed it would be a Lakers-Heat finals, and though I thought that it would be OKC again, the notion of seeing my favourite team up against the defending champions with a new super team was thrilling to me and to everyone really. I followed Dwightmare Part 1 and I never gave thought to the fact that Dwight's personality was very unfavourable. I was just excited to see the most dominant big man in the NBA go to LA to replace the enigmatic Andrew Bynum.

Day 1, up against the Dallas Mavericks. Staples Center was buzzing for a brand new season that was supposed to rival the likes of the Miami Heat and OKC. The preseason was an abysmal 0-8, but it's only preseason right? I remember the fans were booing the Lakers after a 99-91 loss to the simply superior Mavericks. Then, losses against Portland and the Clippers. The Lakers' October to December was probably the most surprising bad start since the first season of the Heat's big 3.

The worst part of the season was January, when the Lakers went 5-11. This stretch, which included a 6 game losing streak, represented everything wrong with the 2012-13 Lakers. Missed free throws (Dwight), poor shot selection (Kobe), injuries, ineffective coaching, and poor chemistry. Everyone had written off the Lakers at this part of the season. The biggest payroll in the NBA did not return on its promise.

As everyone knows, the next 3 months of the Lakers' season finished 25-11, and squeaked the Lakers into the playoffs. A lot people could see the Lakers pulling off a massive upset of the Spurs, even without Kobe. I don't know how they would do it to be honest, and as we all know, the Spurs swept the Lakers in the most embarrassing way possible.

Then the offseason came. Everyone knew that Dwightmare was returning for another year. Where will Dwight go? Will he stay? Who is interested? Many of us had a feeling he wasn't returning. How could he handle playing with Kobe for another 3 years, along with the Lakers needing to rebuild. Also, he clearly couldn't handle being coached by D'Antoni, who is in my opinion, among the worst head coaches in the NBA. Focus on defense!

Today, Dwight confirmed what I expected to happen. He bolted LA, snubbed Dallas, Atlanta, and Golden State, and joined the young, upcoming, James Harden-filled, Houston Rockets. Now, the Rockets are all of a sudden, possible title contenders. I won't miss Dwight's free throws, attitude, and fickleness. The Lakers now have a chance to rebuild without too much money being put into a player who clearly doesn't fit here. The 2014 free agency is a year away, and the Lakers, with their high amount of expiring contracts, will be able to make cap room and rebuild through free agency.

It's a blessing in disguise in my opinion. The Lakers have lots of cap room after this next season (which I don't expect much of anything out of) and Kobe will be raring and ready to go. See you later Dwight. Have fun being booed by Magic AND Lakers fans. Maybe even Golden State. Have fun with Harden, Parsons, Beverley, Lin, and co.