Couple thoughts on this trade:
1) People complaining about 'the rich getting richer' in this trade have it wrong. The Lakers gave up about as equal value as you could ask by trading Bynum. The CP3 trade would have been a travesty, but this one was a fair swap from the Lakers perspective.
2) Claiming that the Cavs blew it here is unfair without knowing what the proposed deal was. If we could have gotten him for just a first round pick, Andy, and a bad contract and we backed out? Yeah, Grant blew it. But look at the haul Magic got in comparison: Two recent first round players, three 1sts, two 2nds, and a vet piece. It took 4 teams to find that.
Where would that haul have come from in the Cavs trade? Maybe LA supplies a 1st and a 2nd, but to provide equal value, we would have had to give the equivalent of Zeller, another player of Zellers youth and promise, two future 1sts, a 2nd, and Andy. Would you have wanted that for a guy that wasnt a lock to stick around after a year? Philly took the gamble, but they had a higher value player that they had been trying to trade for years anyway.
3) It seems to me that the Cavs thinking all along was 'why give up the farm for a guy that we can flat out sign in free agency in 8 months anyway?'. Yes, bird rights give you a big advantage, but if the guy is truly interested in looking at all options and exploring free agency (which has already been reported he will still be doing with Philly), then our chances of signing him shouldn't be any greater or worse than they were if he stayed a Laker. Andrew will still be looking for a team where he can compete while being a top dog. A lot depends on how his season in Philly goes, but if he is only looking for a Bird Rights contract, his agent wouldn't be constantly saying they are going to free agency. Plus, based on Larry Coons article the other day, Bynums maximum earnings may come more from a four year contract with a three years opt-out, thereby maxing out his career NBA earnings based on his age. That kind of contract is nearly equally availabe from all teams with cap room, not just his bird team.
So it doesn't mean we are getting Bynum, but if he truly has had interest in playing here, this move doesn't change much in that perspective. Some, but not much. It just adds another team into the fray.