I never understood all hype around this Dwight Howard decision. He's not the sort of guy who can carry a team, he's not particularly tough. From the Lakers' perspective, I'm not sure he's the sort of guy who could coexist with Kobe -- I doubt Kobe has much respect for that sort of player.
This sort of signing is more about splash than about on-court results, unless Hakeem can perform his voodoo and turn Howard into a monster.
I can see why the Howard chatter would get tiresome, but I think you're underrating him as a player. He dragged an extremely one-dimensional Magic team to the finals a few years ago, averaged 21 and 15 in his final year in Orlando, and then took a small step back recovering from back surgery last year and still managed to lead the league in rebounding. He's considered by many to be the most impactful defensive player in the league when healthy, he was the second best player in the league as recently as three years ago, and he doesn't turn 28 until December.
I don't blame him in the least bit for not wanting to play with Kobe and the Lakers - Nash is ancient, he struggled to coexist with Gasol, and he probably doesn't want to spend the next three years on the bubble in the western conference watching a rapidly declining Kobe putting up 25 shots a game. Houston is the perfect fit for him, both in a basketball sense and a lifestyle sense, IMO. Harden is probably one of the most fun guys in the league to play with due to his court vision and feel for the game, they've surrounded him with shooters, and they don't have as many mouths to feed as the Lakers did last season, meaning he can get touches in the post on a consistent basis. He also won't have to deal with the burden of massive media expectations and a spoiled fan base likely to scapegoat him in defeat and glorify Kobe in victory. Sorry, but I see no appealing reason to return to an old, slow-footed Laker team rather than a youthful Rockets team that can space the floor with shooters, establish Dwight early in the game, and allow Harden to win it late.