Andrew Bynum Confident Lakers Won’t Trade Him for Dwight Howard

Now that there is only hours remaining until the NBA trade deadline clock clicks down to zero (Thurs. March 15 12 p.m. PST), the trade speculation surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers has come to boiling point with no player on the team outside of Kobe Bryant knowing whether or not they are staying or going. Despite the fact that there is no telling what will happen in the time leading up the deadline, All-Star center Andrew Bynum is confident he will remain with the Lakers after tomorrow.

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, Andrew Bynum doesn’t believe he will be traded in exchange for Dwight Howard:

“I definitely feel like I’m going to be a Laker for a long period of time,” Bynum said on 710 ESPN’s “Max & Marcellus Show” on Wednesday. “They had an opportunity to trade me earlier, they didn’t do it. They wanted me to develop and I started realizing, now I’m trying to go get it.

Trade rumors don’t really affect me. I’ve been in every one that’s come up so far and the Lakers always hold on to me, so for that I give them gratitude and I’m going out there and showing on the court that they made the right decision.”

After a monster performance last night (37 points, 16 rebounds) in the double overtime win over the Memphis Grizzlies (116-111), Andrew Bynum has shown great improvement with more touches and more trust from both Kobe Bryant and Mike Brown that he can be an elite center in this league. With Bynum continuing make strides with his game and staying healthy, the Lakers might finally be sold on keeping the big man and building the future around him.

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As the NBA trade deadline draws near, Andrew Bynum has been mentioned in one trade rumor involving the Lakers acquiring Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. The rumored deal has the Lakers sending Derek Fisher and Metta World Peace to the Magic along with Bynum. In exchange, the Lakers would receive Chris Duhon, Hedo Turkoglu and Howard.

Obviously, all speculation and rumors at this point, but there is a chance this deal could happen with the Orlando Magic recently making it known that they intend to trade Dwight Howard before the deadline.