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As expected. The Lakers won't help Howard leave Los Angeles baring some sort of ridiculous proposal that clearly favors the Lakers. We can expect plenty of Howard rumors until he signs as a free agent, but don't bet on a team acquiring him via sign-and-trade.

Lewis had previously been working with the Lakers' D-League team, the D-Fenders. Mike D'Antoni is expected to add two additional assistants at some point alongside his brother Dan.

According to ESPN, the Lakers "have not completely ruled out the idea of a sign-and-trade" if Howard wants to leave, but the same report calls it an unlikely scenario in order to keep their 2014 cap space preserved. Ultimately it depends on what would be offered if Howard is determined to leave, but the Lakers are focused on re-signing him as the priority. The team wouldn't be inclined to offer a package of Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik for Howard from the Rockets, but if the Clippers offered Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe, it could be a different story.

"They will never do it," sources told Adrian Wojnarowski. The Lakers "have not even broached" the topic of dealing Dwight to the Clippers, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, and as usual we're viewing all of these competing rumors with a healthy dose of skepticism. As we learned last summer, there will be plenty more Dwight Howard rumors on the way.

Interestingly, Vitti suggests that Hill's hip injury may have been caused by his style of play. "Just bending and twisting in every which way to get his hands on balls," said Vitti, "he went down at the wrong angle and tore the hip labrum." Hill made a surprise return from hip surgery during the playoffs and he should be ready to go for training camp.

To outline the situation, Dwight had back surgery to relieve nerve pressure which was causing him to lose sensation in his foot. When his back and foot recovered, he was out of shape and frequently brought the ball down to gather himself, at which point opponents whacked him, held him and generally aggravated a torn labrum in his right shoulder. He should be close to 100 percent healthy for training camp this year, though it's less certain which team he'll be playing with.

According to Heisler, the Lakers would rather take the salary cap and luxury tax savings than take on players that aren't equivalent to Howard just to help him sign elsewhere. There have been multiple reports in recent days that Howard and Chris Paul would like to play for the same team next season, but it's unlikely that would be with the Lakers or Clippers due to the salary cap. The Rockets and Hawks have been mentioned as possible landing spots, although it's unclear how much interest Paul has in leaving the Clippers.