I don't think either of those players were expected to do too much, more like "shut up, don't make waves, and we'll let you hang on for a possible ring." Nash is coming off a good season, Howard was a huge Drama Queen last year, with the Lakers, there can be only one Drama Queen, and Kobe already has that spot nailed down, so Superman will have to cool his jets while Kobe is around. It'll be interesting to see how the team will mesh, and if Howard can be a supporting cast member, and not the star. Besides, we're not talking about " NY Knicks Old" here either.