Los Angeles Lakers have seamlessly teamed LeBron James, Anthony Davis

3. Howard thriving in reserve role

After DeMarcus Cousins went down with a season-ending injury, the Los Angeles Lakers decided to take a chance on Dwight Howard. On one side of the equation, Howard is an eight-time All-Star, earning six consecutive selections during his eight-year tenure with the Orlando Magic.

It is also worth noting that Howard has been named to the All-NBA first team five times and to four All-Defensive first teams. The potential downside of the decision was whether Howard could be an impactful player being that he’s suited up for four different teams since donning the purple- and-gold back in 2012-13.

In one of the season’s biggest surprises, Howard has been exactly what the Lakers coming off the bench. Sure his 7.7 points and 7.6 rebounds are the lowest averages of his career. At the same time, that is to be somewhat expected being that he’s playing less than 20 minutes a game.

On the other side of the narrative, DH12 is shooting a career-best 72.8 percent from the field and averaging 1.4 blocks per game.

In other words, what was viewed as a risk has turned out to be quite the reward for a Lakers team that has championship aspirations.