Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

When the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Dwight Howard before the start of this season, it was for the long-term.

The Lakers planned to re-sign Howard next summer and keep him to pair with Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol for a few more title runs.

Things haven’t gone as planned and the Lakers currently sit at 17-24 on the year with the playoffs looking very unrealistic.

The Los Angeles Lakers have consistently turned away trade inquiries in recent weeks for All-Star center Dwight Howard and still believe they have a strong chance of signing him to a new contract when Howard becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, according to sources close to the situation.

But sources told ESPN.com this week the Lakers might be forced to reconsider that position between now and the Feb. 21 trade deadline because of Howard’s growing unhappiness with his role under coach Mike D’Antoni and the potential that raises for Howard leaving them in July without compensation.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, however, said that a trade is not imminent.

Via ESPN.com

This is interesting considering the news that came out yesterday that the Brooklyn Nets were planning to pursue trading for Howard again this season.

Between Howard and Gasol, the Lakers need to trade one of them. It is unknown what the Lakers could get for Howard at this point. Gasol has most often been linked with Josh Smith as a potential swap between the Lakers and Atlanta Hawks, something that would probably fit pretty well with the Lakers.

If the Lakers don’t trade Howard and he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, there is a real chance he will decide to sign somewhere else considering his struggles in L.A. and the team’s struggles.

The Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks are a few teams who are planning to be in position to sign Howard next summer.

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Dwight Howard made it very clear last summer which team he wanted to play for this season. It wasn’t the Los Angeles Lakers where he is now but the Brooklyn Nets.

A deal could not be made between the Orlando Magic and Nets at that time and all hope of Howard going to Brooklyn faded. In stepped the Lakers and we all know that hasn’t worked out too well this season.

According to Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM, the Nets are preparing to pursue Howard in a trade again.

According to sources, King was planning to contact the Minnesota Timberwolves in order to gauge their interest in a three-team trade that would send Kevin Love to the Lakers, Brook Lopez to the Timberwolves and Dwight Howard to the Nets. Other small pieces would need to be included, but the proposed trade was thought to be intriguing enough to start conversations in the Lakers front office that would force them to deal with Howard earlier than planned.

That idea, however, was shelved when Love was sidelined 8-10 weeks with a broken hand. The Nets believed the Lakers would be interested in Love, but not an injured Love, even if they’re facing missing the playoffs, according to sources.

King will still look around for an attractive piece for the Lakers, but won’t make getting Howard as big a priority as last season, according to sources. But he will continue to watch the Lakers and explore intriguing trade options, sources said.

The hypothetical 3-team trade with Minnesota seems pretty unlikely considering the Timberwolves would be giving up Kevin Love and only receiving Brook Lopez in return.

The Lakers are definitely very likely to trade someone before the deadline this season whether that be Howard or Pau Gasol. At 17-24 on the year, playoffs are extremely unlikely and the current makeup of the Lakers is clearly not working.

Gasol has been benched by Mike D’Antoni who claims the Lakers work better on both ends of the floor with a smaller lineup. He is essentially being wasted on the bench playing less than 30 minutes per game which makes him an ideal candidate to be traded.

There have been rumors linking possible Gasol trades with the Atlanta Hawks for Josh Smith, a move that could work for both teams. The Lakers are discussing trade possibilities involving Gasol but have said they do not want to take on a long-term contract in exchange for him because they want to have their books cleared in 2014 so they can chase after a big name free agent.

But maybe trading Howard would make more sense for the Lakers. The dynamic between Howard and Kobe Bryant has been awkward at best with Kobe most recently coming out and talking about how much he has tried to help Dwight. Kobe also doesn’t like the new situation of Gasol coming off the bench.

Howard doesn’t like the current set up saying that the Lakers need to play more inside-out on offense and that he needs more touches.

The only thing for certain right now is that the Lakers are a mess. The playoffs aren’t happening this season unless something drastically changes. Trading Howard or Gsaol would be drastic and at this time, probably a good move for the Lakers no matter what they get in return.

USA Today Sports

No team is struggling like the Los Angeles Lakers this season. After acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash in the offseason, this season was supposed to be one in which they competed for an NBA title.

It looks anything but.

The Oklahoma City Thunder took the Lakers to the woodshed last night beating them 116-101 dropping the Lakers’ record to 15-21 on the season.

Now it’s looking like making the playoffs might not even happen for this Lakers team. The 8-seed in the Western Conference is currently projected to be a 42-win team. The Lakers would have to go 27-19 the rest of the year to hit that mark.

The way things are going now, that about looks impossible. And if the Lakers don’t make the playoffs, will that mean Howard will be on the way out?

Lakers executive vice president Jim Buss recently said in a radio interview that he believes the Lakers have a 95 percent chance of re-signing Howard after this season. Buss said he is still excited about this team because injuries have played a big factor in their struggles so far.

The 95 percent chance of keeping Howard is an optimistic outlook for Buss. Wouldn’t he be the one thinking there’s the highest chance of keeping him?

Let’s look at what we’ve seen from Howard and the Lakers so far this season.

Howard hasn’t fit in too well with Kobe Bryant. There have been rumored feuds between the two and their personalities were never going to be ones that fit together perfectly.

Howard does not appear to be healthy following the back surgery he had in the offseason. Maybe this means he still isn’t 100 percent or maybe this means this is the Howard we will see for the rest of his career.

The pieces surrounding Howard aren’t very good and are old. This team doesn’t exactly look like it has a bright future. If anything, they were supposed to have the best chance of winning a title this season. Nash, Kobe and Gasol are only going to get older.

The Lakers had no problem trading for Howard before this season because they were supposed to become one of the best teams in the West meaning Howard wouldn’t think twice about re-signing with them after this season.

Things haven’t gone as planned and Howard’s plan may change by the end of the season. There will be plenty of teams like Dallas, Atlanta and Houston ready to offer Howard max money this coming summer. Quite frankly, all of those teams look like better situations for the big man right now.

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Nothing was supposed to shake up the NBA landscape more dramatically this year than Dwight Howard going to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Howard was joining Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol in L.A. and many had them as the NBA title favorites before even playing a game in purple and gold.

Things haven’t gone as planned for the Lakers so far this season as they are just 9-13 on the season so far. They fired head coach Mike Brown five games into the season and new head coach Mike D’Antoni has yet to right the ship.

Howard’s contract will be up after this season and he will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Lakers of course traded for Howard with the idea that he would be there long-term. L.A. was confident that after a season with Kobe and the Lakers making it at least to the Western Conference Finals, remaining a Laker would be a no-brainer for the big man.

But what if the Lakers don’t turn it around this year? What if they get knocked out in the first or second round of the playoffs? What if Howard can’t handle the pressure in L.A. and with Kobe in his ear every day?

Suddenly the future of where Howard is going to be playing basketball seems foggier.

Not for Howard though who came out and said yesterday that he already knows who he will be signing with next summer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

This has to be good news for the Lakers because who else could Howard already know he is going to sign with besides the Lakers?

The only other teams that really would be in play for Howard would be the Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks and maybe the Houston Rockets. There’s nothing that would point at Howard already being sure of one of those teams as a new destination for him next season.

But it really doesn’t mean anything what Howard is saying right now. A ton can change between now and then and if the Lakers don’t get their act together, Howard might decide he’s had enough.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni as their new head coach late last night. It was a move that surprised some since Phil Jackson seemed to be their No. 1 target but a deal could not be reached to acquire the Zen Master.

The biggest aspect of the D’Antoni hiring is that he will be reunited with point guard Steve Nash who thrived so much under his system in the past that he won two MVP awards. Nash was an afterthought in the Princeton offense Mike Brown was running this year and would have remained that way in the Triangle under Jackson.

We can expect to see a very different offense for the Lakers this season now with D’Antoni running the show.

Nash should be featured much more but maybe not as much as he was in Phoenix since Kobe Bryant also needs to be accounted for as someone who needs the ball. The Lakers will be running a lot more pick-and-roll in general and posting up less.

The Lakers are posting up 20.6 percent of the time on offense so far this year and scoring 0.93 points per possession on those plays which is good for 4th in the league. In 2009-10, the last season Nash played under D’Antoni, post-up plays accounted for just 8.5 percent of the Suns’ offense.

The Lakers are running the pick-and-roll 10.7 percent of the time so far this season. Nash and the Suns ran it 19.6% of the time back in 2009-10 and scored more PPP than anyone else in the league with it.

The Nash-Amare Stoudemire pick-and-roll was one of the best in history and such was the case three seasons ago. Nash scored 0.99 PPP as the pick-and-roll ball handler that season which was 10th best in the league. Stoudemire scored 1.21 PPP as the roll man which was 18th in the league.

While Nash now is a slight downgrade from Nash three years ago, Dwight Howard may be an upgrade from Stoudemire. Howard scored 1.36 PPP as the roll man last year with the Magic which was 2nd best in the league. He was also great scoring off cuts scoring 1.41 PPP.

Kobe scored 0.86 PPP as the pick-and-roll ball handler last season which was 41st in the league. He will undoubtedly be doing a lot more of this under D’Antoni and if he can keep scoring at that clip, he should be just fine in the new system.

Another key to D’Antoni-Nash is spot-up shooting. The Suns were the best in the league on spot-up plays three years ago scoring 1.11 PPP. They had a large cast of capable outside shooters back then which the Lakers don’t quite have this year.

Players like Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks should see an increase in spot-up opportunities and both have a history of being very good on those plays in the past.

The Lakers will probably run more under D’Antoni now too. It won’t be seven seconds or less exactly since they are pretty old but maybe something like 10 seconds or less instead.

Transition plays accounted for 13.3 percent of the Suns’ offense three years ago. The Lakers transition offense makes up just 10.1 percent of their offense this year.

The Lakers under D’Antoni may be better suited to match up with the Thunder now than before. The Thunder were 4th best in the league last year defending post-up plays while the Lakers posted up more than anyone.

OKC was in the top eight defending the pick-and-roll last year and has struggled out of the gates doing so this year. OKC was also just 23rd in the league last year defending transition plays. If the Lakers can improve in the pick-and-roll and run more, they may be tougher for the Thunder to match up with.

The Lakers are 3-4 on the year and will play their next game Tuesday night vs. the San Antonio Spurs. D’Antoni is still recovering from knee replacement surgery so likely will not be with the team for that game but he is expected to make his debut within a week or two.

The Lakers will play the Thunder for the first time on Dec. 7 in OKC.

Dwight Howard returned to the floor last night for the first time since being traded from the Orlando Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers this summer. This was Howard’s first preseason game as he missed the others while still recovering from back surgery.

The Lakers lost 99-92 to the Sacramento Kings in Staples Center but Howard was productive in 33 minutes scoring 19 points to go with 12 boards and four blocks.

Howard’s first basket came on a lob from Pau Gasol which he threw down with authority early in the first quarter.

The Lakers had their full starting five for the game and they all played over 30 minutes. Kobe Bryant had 21 points, Steve Nash had six points and five assists and Gasol had 14 points, five assists and eight boards.

The Lakers certainly had their moments last night despite the loss where they looked scary good. These included Kobe delivering Howard a few really nice passes that led to buckets at the rim. Howard was also a force inside protecting the rim as he always is.

Chemistry did not appear to be an issue for the Lakers starters as they blended together nicely. It is early but as long as they’re healthy, it shouldn’t take them too long to learn to play together and start winning a lot of games.

The Lakers are just 0-6 so far in the preseason.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

A story came out yesterday that the Los Angeles Lakers are planning to target LeBron James in 2014, when he can opt out of his contract with the Miami Heat and become a free agent.

The idea behind this is that Kobe Bryant might retire after playing two more seasons which would open up the cap room to go after a player like LeBron. LeBron will almost certainly opt out of his contract even if he plans to stay with Miami simply to get a maximum contract.

LeBron was asked about the rumors yesterday.

“That story, I don’t know where it came from, but I understand why it came up because of who I am — it’s going to happen,” LeBron said. “But I’m not going to worry about it. I’ve got to continue to stay focused with these guys and make sure we’re ready for any challenges that come.”

Meanwhile, Dwight Howard is still recovering from having surgery on his back this offseason and has yet to play in the preseason. A source has said that Howard is eyeing the Lakers’ game Sunday vs. the Sacramento Kings for his return.

Howard went on to say that he will be “nervous” somewhat when he returns to the floor.

“I know I’m going to be a little rusty, I haven’t played in so long,” Howard said. “It’s going be a little different, but I’m looking forward to it. Once I get my first dunk or my first block, everything will be OK.”

It will be interesting to see Howard in a Lakers uniform playing with Steve Nash and Kobe for the first time and how well they work together.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Dwight Howard missed the first Los Angeles Lakers preseason game last night while Steve Nash made his Lakers debut as the Lakers lost 110-83 to the Golden State Warriors.

Nash started and played 14 minutes, scoring five points to go with three assists on 2-of-7 shooting. Kobe Bryant scored 10 points in 18 minutes and Pau Gasol had nine points.

“I don’t have an update for you guys,” Howard told the Los Angeles Daily News. “I’m on track. I want to be 100 percent. They need me at 100 percent. I didn’t come here to play preseason. I came here to win the championship. That’s my goal. That’s the only thing I’m focused on. I’m going to play when I’m 100 percent.”

Howard had back surgery this summer and is still recovering from it. He was described as “unbelievable” in some of his practices earlier this week though.

Fans will have to wait a little longer before seeing the new-look Lakers in full force with Howard in the middle.

The Oklahoma City Thunder don’t play the Lakers until Nov. 21. Howard is hoping to be back for the start of the regular season at least so it is likely he and the Lakers will have their new Big 4 ready to play the Thunder by that date.

Kobe Bryant had some interesting comments at the Los Angeles Lakers’ media day Monday. Kobe was asked if he felt like he was “passing the baton” off to Dwight Howard and if this was still his team. Kobe said he was “passing the baton” to Dwight but also made it very clear that the Lakers were still “his team.”

This kind of attitude from Kobe is potentially very good news for the Oklahoma City Thunder and anyone else who might have to get by the Lakers this coming season.

When the Lakers acquired Howard and Steve Nash this summer, they had truly put together a super team. Adding Howard and Nash with Kobe and Pau Gasol immediately makes the Lakers much better than they were last season and gives them one of the best starting fives (on paper) in the NBA.

The real reason the Lakers should be considered NBA title favorites next season is because of Dwight Howard much more than because of Kobe Bryant. Howard is quite possibly the most valuable basketball player you can put on an NBA floor right now. If you forget about all of the drama this past year in Orlando, you’ll remember that he affects a game defensively more than anyone else in the league. He is efficient on offense and rebounds as well as anyone. He made a roster that included Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis as his forwards a perennial top defense in the league.

Now let’s move on to Steve Nash. Because Andrew Bynum is coming off such a great season and Howard off back surgery, a case can be made that the upgrade to Howard from Bynum may not be too significant (a couple of wins in the regular season). Nash has become the underrated addition by the Lakers this summer. Nash will be 39 this season but is still an elite point guard. He is one of the best pick-and-roll players in NBA history and paired with Howard, could throw him back to his days running one of the best pick-and-rolls ever like he did with Amare Stoudemire in Phoenix.

Kobe can only get in the way of all this. His next great challenge is to change his game to fit his new teammates, not to stand pat and act like he’s still top dog in L.A. Kobe doesn’t exactly have the greatest history with this though. He basically ran the most dominant center ever out of L.A. in 2004 because he wanted to be the unquestioned alpha dog. He’s also coming off a season in which he did so much for the Lakers on offense playing 38.5 minutes per game, attempting 23.0 shots per game (third highest ever in his career) and having a usage rate of 33.0 (second highest ever in career) all at the age of 33 (now 34).

Change is necessary for Kobe next season if the Lakers are going to truly succeed and that change needs to be drastic. The biggest obstacle for the Lakers will of course be the defending Western Conference champion Thunder.

The Thunder had no problem matching up with the Lakers last season mainly because they never had to double-team anyone. Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden played Kobe straight up, Serge Ibaka locked up Gasol and Kendrick Perkins handled Bynum. The Thunder will come into next year with the same philosophy except now Perkins will be matched up with his old nemesis in Howard and Russell Westbrook with Nash (who he outplayed in their regular season matchups last season).

On paper, the matchups have gotten tougher for the Thunder. But the paper also says Kobe needs to defer more than ever now. Kobe really struggled vs. the Thunder last season. In three regular season games vs. OKC last season, he went 7-for-24, 7-for-25 and 9-for-26 from the field. In the playoffs, Kobe was better averaging 31.2 points per game vs. the Thunder but still only shot .426 percent from the field.

Kobe saying the Lakers are still his team tells us that he is still going to be the “one” with the ball in his hands in clutch situations. Kobe of course has the reputation of being a great closer but stats say he is more average than great at this. Who is great though? Steve Nash.

Maybe Kobe does learn how to defer some more next season and he coexists pretty well with Howard and Nash but there is still one time of the game when we know Kobe isn’t deferring. Kobe will have the ball in his hands late, playing isolation basketball and hoisting bad shots over defenders that can now check him more easily just like he always has. The best play for the Lakers then will be bad misses and air balls that Howard and Gasol can clean up. The play they should be running late is high pick-and-rolls with the ball in Nash’s hands and Howard rolling to the rim.

We won’t know for certain how the new-look Lakers are until the season starts (just a few weeks away now). The Lakers aren’t winning a title though with Kobe still thinking he is “the man” on this team. Not when it should be Howard or Nash instead.

The Thunder don’t have to worry yet.

The more surprising news on the Lakers front was Steve Nash deciding he wanted to play with what were once his biggest rivals.

Kobe Bryant wasn’t surprised at all.

“Kobe called that a month before it happened,” Kevin Durant told Yahoo! Sports. “I didn’t believe him. He was just like, ‘We are going to have Dwight. We are going to have Steve Nash.’ He just talks a lot of trash, jokes and laughs. But he said it. I don’t think anyone paid attention to it but me and him. He said it and it happened. And they got better, a lot better.”

Durant went on to say that the Lakers have the best lineup in the league on paper. Chris Bosh said just about exactly the same thing a few days ago when talking about the Lakers. It seems players like Durant and Bosh wouldn’t mind the pressure of winning a title shifting to the Lakers for next season.

The pressure is off the Heat now but it is mounting on the Thunder. They have progressed incrementally in each of the last four seasons. The next step for them would be winning a title after losing in the NBA Finals last season. The Lakers acquiring Howard and Nash will take the focus off Oklahoma City.

“It was a great move for [the Lakers],” Durant said. “[Howard] is the most dominant center in the league. It’s going to make it tough on other teams. But I like that challenge. We all like that challenge in OKC. It should be fun. That’s what the Lakers do. They make big moves. That’s part of their DNA.”

If there’s anything you can take away from Durant’s recent responses to questions about Howard and the Lakers, it’s that he and the Thunder aren’t backing down. They almost seem a little annoyed that the Lakers are getting all of this attention and that people are crowning them as champs before they have even played a game.

The Lakers will surely be a better team next season but if there is one team that can match up with them the best, it’s the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant knows that. The team knows that. And that’s why they’re excited to play the Lakers next season.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James has established himself as the clear-cut, best player in the NBA. He’s won three of the last four MVP awards and led the league in PER in each of the last five seasons.

LeBron will head into the 2012-13 season as the frontrunner to win the MVP again but that’s not always a good thing. With the MVP award, voters are always looking for a fresh face or better story to win the award even if they aren’t quite as deserving.

We saw this in 2010-11 when Derrick Rose won the award despite being ninth in the league in PER. He led the Chicago Bulls to the best record in the NBA though doing just about everything for that team and it prevented LeBron from winning his third straight MVP.

So while LeBron has a very good chance to lead the league in PER again this season, he has a lesser chance to win his fourth MVP in five seasons.

Here’s a look at five players who have a chance to steal the award from him.

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder

Durant has emerged as the consensus second-best player in the NBA. He’s coming off his best season yet in which he led the Thunder to the NBA Finals and he captured his third straight scoring title. He also saw increases in a lot of stat categories including shooting percentage, rebounding and assists. If we see some more all-around improvement from Durant in those areas and the Thunder put together a monster regular season win total, he may very well be in perfect position to win his first ever MVP.

Dwight Howard, Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers made the biggest move of the summer trading for Howard and now they are right up there again as title contenders. Howard has a chance to drastically improve the Lakers and that kind of effect will make him very relevant in MVP talk. He already makes as great an impact as any NBA player in defense. There is a chance though that Howard will miss a large chunk of the season and won’t play until January or February. If that is the case, then his chance at winning are pretty slim.

Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers

Paul is as valuable as any player in the league is to their team. In his first season with the Clippers last year, he led them to the second round of the playoffs and was second in the NBA in PER. He proved himself as one of the most clutch players in the league and seemed to single-handedly drag the Clippers to wins at times. In his second season with the Clippers, we could see a big improvement for the team while Paul remains just as efficient. If they are fighting for the top seed in the West late in the season, expect Paul’s name to come up when discussing the MVP.

Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics

Just when we thought the Celtics were going to roll over and die, they went out and had a pretty good offseason putting together a roster that should still compete for a high seed in the East next season. Rondo has continued to progress as a player and led the league in assists per game last season. He may be poised for a monster regular season as the Celtics now totally hand over the reins of the team to him. We’ve seen the Heat mail it in somewhat the last two regular seasons which may leave the door open for the Celtics to challenge them for the top seed in the East. If they do, then Rondo will get a lot of MVP love next season’s end.

Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves

Love has been making some of the biggest improvements of anyone in the league over the past few seasons. Last year he finished fifth in the league in PER and averaged 26.0 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. He has been in a class by himself throwing up numbers like that. The Timberwolves will need to improve their win total by quite a lot for Love to be considered an MVP candidate but if they do make the playoffs, it will be because Love is playing like an MVP.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

It’s the end of August and things have settled down somewhat in the NBA. There aren’t a lot of free agents left out there looking for teams and we have a good idea of what kind of roster everyone will have for the start of next season.

The summer began pretty quietly with the NBA Draft, were there wasn’t quite as many trades as usual. Then the biggest news came with restricted free agents until Dwight Howard was eventually traded.

Here is a look at some of the best and worst from this offseason.

Best

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers clearly lead the way as having the best offseason of anyone this summer. They started it off by trading for Steve Nash, shocking just about everyone as Nash decided to join his past rivals in chase of a ring. The Lakers immediately became a much stronger team after this trade as their point guard play has been very weak in the past few seasons.

Then the Lakers landed Howard in what was inevitable and surprising all at the same time. All-Star centers have a knack for finding their way to L.A. and the trade wasn’t completely out of the blue. But the Lakers really didn’t give up much at all to get Howard, just Andrew Bynum and Christian Eyenga.

The Lakers immediately became title contenders after the Howard trade. They kept Pau Gasol and now have a starting five considered possibly the best in the league. No one is going to hand the title over to them but there isn’t another team that improved as much as they did.

Brooklyn Nets

With the move to Brooklyn on the horizon for 2012-13, the Nets wanted to make sure they had a quality product on the floor to give their new city. The biggest move they made was locking up Deron Williams for the next five years.

The Nets were then very much in the hunt for Howard who even came out and said Brooklyn was the only place he wanted to play next year. A deal could not be found with the Magic and Brooklyn decided to go a different direction. They traded for Joe Johnson then re-signed Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries to hefty contracts.

The Nets are spending a lot of money for the team they have right now but the money isn’t a huge issue to their owner. The one problem is that they are pretty locked in to the core they have now and if it doesn’t work out, they will be in some trouble.

The acquisition of Johnson and locking up of Williams were great though. The Nets have a very good chance of contending in a weak Eastern Conference right now with the roster they have. Wherever Howard landed was going to make that team have the best offseason in the league but despite the Nets missing put on him, they did a pretty good job.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics were supposed to be on the way out, old and unable to compete for a title anymore. The moves they made this summer will extend that window a little longer. The Big 3 era is over now as Ray Allen signed with the Miami Heat this summer but that era was really already over anyway.

The Celtics started things off re-signing Kevin Garnett for a good price. They also drafted well addressing a need in their lack of size. They picked Jared Sullinger who slipped very late in the draft and has the potential to be one of the most talented players from this draft class. Then they picked a 7-foot center in Fab Melo.

Jason Terry decided to sign with the Celtics a little later, essentially replacing Allen’s role. The sneakiest move for Boston was a sign-and-trade to acquire shooting guard Courtney Lee who seems just what this team needs. Lee is a good outside shooter and solid wing defender that should mesh well with this roster.

The Celtics may still be a far way off from the Miami Heat but their roster looks better than it did last year despite the expectation that they were still on the decline.

Worst

Orlando Magic

The Magic were put in a no-win situation this year. Their franchise player wanted out and quit on the team. The Magic knew they couldn’t replace him and were going to take a significant step back next season. So they decided to stay strong and hold out for the best possible deal despite all the drama that was going on.

Then they traded Howard and the deal they ended up getting seemed pretty terrible. They weren’t able to get Bynum or Gasol from the Lakers in the deal, although they may not have really wanted either, and instead ended up with Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and Moe Harkless. They also received four protected first-round picks which won’t be very valuable either.

The plan was to completely start over with new GM Rob Hennigan who wants to imitate the Thunder model. They are definitely doing that but good luck drafting your version of Durant-Westbrook-Harden-Ibaka in the next three drafts.

The Magic come away post-Howard looking closer to the Bobcats than a team that is young with a promising future. It never ends well when your star player wants out but how could it have gone worse for Orlando?

Houston Rockets

The Rockets made some of the most noise this summer as they tried to go all-in on acquiring Dwight Howard. That obviously didn’t work out and their consolation prize was restricted free agents Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik, not horrible but nothing even close to Howard.

While the Rockets were stockpiling assets to throw Orlando’s way, it started to look like they had the best package to woo the Magic. Later the rumored deals Houston was willing to trade to Orlando proved to be false and they weren’t offering quite that much for Howard.

The Rockets are parting ways with Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, Marcus Camby and Chase Budinger from last year’s team while replacing those guys with not much. They do have three first-round draft picks that could be cool and Donatas Montiejunas is coming over next season.

The Rockets have a very good chance to have the worst record in the conference next season. Sometimes you have to get worse before you can get good and that seems to be Houston’s mindset right now.

New York Knicks

There wasn’t a lot the Knicks could do heading into this offseason but what ended up happening was embarrassingly bad. The worst thing was when they decided not to match Houston’s offer sheet for Lin. They are avoiding some harsh luxury tax penalties by parting ways with Lin, but letting him walk for nothing is truly unforgiveable.

The Knicks are replacing Lin with Jason Kidd and Raymond Felton. No one can get excited for that.

The Knicks were in the running for Nash too before the Lakers swooped in and got him. Not only did the Knicks lose Nash but Landry Fields as well, who signed a big offer sheet with Toronto that New York chose not to match.

When the Knicks acquired Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, they were supposed to start competing for NBA championships. It still feels like they are very far away from this and it’s hard to see how they can change that too.

Where the Thunder fit in

The Thunder had a quiet offseason for the most part and that’s how they like it. They weren’t the best or worst, and closer to one of the best if anything. In the draft, picking Perry Jones who fell so far to them is a great pick. He has nothing but potential and if he doesn’t work out, no big deal either.

The Thunder then made some headlines a few days ago locking up Serge Ibaka for the next four years. James Harden is next on the list and those close to the team really feel like that will happen soon.

The Thunder will improve next year simply from experience and are still the favorites in the Western Conference. There’s nothing wrong with that.

It felt like everyone had forgotten about the Oklahoma City Thunder. Bruce Bowen hasn’t.

There’s a team out West called the Oklahoma City Thunder. Those young boys, it seems like each and every year they get better… I don’t think you can rule them out with their starters, their bench. You look at Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka down low, I think they will be aggressive and challenge Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. Then you look at James Harden coming off the bench, who’s going to matchup with him? It’s not even a question with Steve Nash and Russell Westbrook. So now it leaves Kobe and Kevin Durant…. I’m not sold on this new Lakers team because it takes time to gel.

via Pro Basketball Talk

This is what I like to hear. Bowen is absolutely right that the Thunder match up very well with the Lakers. The Lakers will have much more trouble trying to keep up with the Thunder than the other way around.

There is no question that the 2012-13 Lakers team will be a better one than the team OKC beat in five games in the second round of the playoffs last year. They’re going to have to be a lot better though to knock off the Thunder.

That’s just the Thunder though. The Lakers do seem to have even more so increased their chances against the other elite NBA teams like the Spurs and Heat.

If next season plays out like it should, OKC will be waiting for the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. L.A. will likely have to go through the Spurs or Clippers first which will be challenges for them too. A matchup with the Heat of course wouldn’t happen until the NBA Finals.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Lakers appear to have drastically improved their roster from last year with the two major trades they made this summer acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. So much so that many are calling them NBA title favorites already.

On paper, the two trades seem like they will definitely make the Lakers a bigger threat in the Western Conference, where they finished third last season behind the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Let’s take a closer look at how Howard and Nash will change the Lakers’ offense.

Pick-and-rolls

The Lakers were in the bottom half of the league last season in pick-and-roll offense efficiency at 0.84 PPP. The Lakers have been a team that hasn’t had a point guard play a significant role on it in recent history. L.A. acquired Ramon Sessions last season and he improved them in that department somewhat but not much.

Most of the ball handling was done by Kobe Bryant who was second in the NBA last season averaging 27.9 points per game although shot only 43 percent from the field. Kobe found his offense with the pick-and-roll 12.2 percent of the time and had a 0.86 PPP.

The two primary roll men in the pick-and-roll for the Lakers were of course Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Gasol was surprisingly below average with a 0.73 PPP. Bynum was hardly ever used in the pick-and-roll, just 3.4 percent of the time, and had a 1.12 PPP.

Nash and Howard should help the Lakers most in this area of the offense. Nash has been a master of the pick-and-roll for all of his career and Howard is one of the best roll men in the league.

Nash did 60.9 percent of his scoring in the pick-and-roll last season and had a 0.92 PPP. Nash is also as good a passer as anyone in the league and was second in the NBA last season in assists. This doesn’t take into account how effective he is distributing as well.

Howard was the roll man 8.9 percent of the time on offense and had a blistering 1.36 PPP. Howard may even improve upon that number now being surrounded by more offensive options and Nash handling the ball most of the time.

Gasol is the player most likely to benefit from playing with Nash now. Gasol will never be wasted with Nash on the floor and should good more touches in better spots. He should become the perfect pick-and-pop option as well.

Post-ups

The Lakers posted up as much as any team in the NBA last season as it accounted for 20.5 percent of their offense. They were very efficient at it two finishing second in the NBA with a 0.89 PPP.

Kobe was most efficient when working out of the post with a 0.93 PPP and he got 19.3 percent of his offense from there. Gasol had a 0.95 PPP and Bynum 0.89.

Howard was right around where Bynum was last season posting a 0.88 PPP. This is where acquiring Howard shouldn’t be too much of an upgrade from what Bynum did last season. Bynum has one of the best post-up games in the NBA and played nearly the entire season last year making his first All-Star game for the Lakers.

One area where the Lakers really thrived in was scoring off cuts, which often came from big-to-big passing out of the post. Gasol had a 1.17 PPP on cuts last season and Bynum had a 1.53. They each got a decent chunk of their offense from this too, 14 percent or more for both. The Lakers as a team were fifth in PPP in cuts last season at 1.26.

Howard only got 8.2 percent of his offense from cuts last season, about half as much as Bynum, and had a 1.41 PPP. Gasol is a very skilled passer as a big so we should expect Howard to have more offense from this next season. Not to mention Nash who will open up more opportunities for cuts in the offense next year as well.

Isolations

The Lakers got 12.4 percent of their offense from isolation plays last season and were right in the middle of the pack with a 0.79 PPP.

Kobe of course leads the way in this department with isolations accounting for 27.9 percent of his offense. That number should go down some next season as Kobe won’t feel the need to try and do everything for the Lakers on offense with Nash and Howard in town now.

Kobe had a 0.86 PPP on isolations which isn’t bad but he is on the decline overall and the less he has to rely on isolations, the better for the Lakers. Kobe has been more reliant on his jumper more than ever lately and has lost a step on his drive.

Nash is a very good isolation player too and often looks to score in these situations after bigs switch on to him in a pick-and-roll. Nash had a PPP of 0.89 on isolation plays last season.

Spot-up shooting

Spot-up shooting is the area Nash will really help the Lakers. You can go down a long list of pros that Nash made into excellent 3-point shooters just by playing with them. The Lakers went to spot-up shooting plays 16.6 percent of the time last season and were 19th in the league with a 0.94 PPP.

Kobe had a 0.92 PPP on spot-ups and Gasol 0.88. Expect both of those numbers to go up and to see the Lakers get more of their offense from spot-up jumpers as well. The acquisitions of Jodie Meeks (1.03 PPP) and Antawn Jamison (0.93 PPP) will help in this department as well.

Conclusion

The Lakers should have a much more efficient offense next season in the pick-and-roll and spot-up shooting. Howard is hardly an upgrade over Bynum in the post however. Nash will make things very easy for everyone and shooting percentages should all climb from last season.

The Lakers were close last season and Howard and Nash will make them legitimate title contenders next season. This was just how their offense will improve next season. Their defense should as well with the impact Howard makes on the end of the floor, being second to none.

The key will be how much time it takes these guys to learn to play together. This isn’t like what Miami had to deal with when LeBron, Wade and Bosh teamed up. All of these pieces fit so we should see them gel quicker more like how Boston did back in 2008.

Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Lakers shook up the landscape of the NBA again when they traded for Dwight Howard last week.

The deal will immediately make the Lakers legitimate NBA title contenders and in some people’s eyes, the NBA title favorites already.

The Lakers will have to go through the Oklahoma City Thunder though. The defending Western Conference champs didn’t make any big moves this summer simply because they didn’t have to. The Lakers have improved their roster leaps and bounds from last year but the Thunder are still more than capable of matching up with them.

Here’s a look at how the matchup will breakdown.

Point guards

The Lakers’ biggest weakness the past few seasons was the point guard position. They went out and got Steve Nash this summer which will drastically improve that area for them. Nash will turn 39 next year but is still playing at an elite level. Last year with Phoenix, he averaged 12.5 points and 10.7 assists per game in just 31.6 minutes per game. He also matched a career-high shooting .532 percent from the field and also shot .390 percent from three.

Old age is not the ideal weapon to throw at OKC’s Russell Westbrook who is one of the best athletes in the NBA. Westbrook is coming off a great season himself where he was fifth in the NBA averaging 23.6 points per game. It’s safe to say Nash will have a pretty difficult time staying in front of Westbrook.

Westbrook will have a huge edge in terms of athleticism but Nash can make up for it some with his basketball savvy. Westbrook has struggled somewhat in matchups vs. experienced point guards but in the long run, Westbrook will still have the advantage here. Nash could outplay him in a half of a game, but for the full 48, the advantage goes to Westbrook.

Shooting guards

The Lakers have always been used to having a huge advantage at this position with Kobe Bryant. That may not be the case against the Thunder though. James Harden was the Sixth Man of the Year last season, made the 2012 Olympic team and is very much closing in on the heels of Kobe.

It’s not fair to say that Harden will have an advantage over Kobe yet in this matchup but it’s definitely closer than some people would think. The Thunder made Kobe really work for his points when they played in the postseason. Kobe had a pretty good series averaging 31.2 points per game and 10.2 free throw attempts per game but the Thunder still did a good job containing him.

Thabo Sefolosha is an elite perimeter defender that has no problem guarding Kobe one-on-one. The Thunder would be able to rely on using Sefolosha on Kobe a lot in this matchup if they could count on playing a lot of small lineups like last year. But that will be less likely with the Lakers’ size for next season.

Harden will have to match up with Kobe even more so than usual. Kobe should see a decline in the advantage he has over Harden in this matchup and there may even be some games where Harden can match Kobe.

Small forwards

The Thunder will just about always have the advantage at this position. No one in the NBA can slow down Kevin Durant. Metta World Peace used to be his kryptonite but not anymore. Durant averaged 26.8 points and shot .516 percent from the field vs. the Lakers last year in the playoffs.

Durant even proved that not even LeBron can really slow him down when he averaged 30.6 points per game in the Finals and shot .548 percent.

The Lakers will have a very tough time slowing down Durant and will have to weather his storm. That’s the biggest problem for the Lakers in this matchup. Even though they have improved their roster, they haven’t necessarily improved it in a way to slow down OKC’s big three on offense.

Durant and Westbrook should have less success driving into the paint with Howard now lurking but they are jump shooters first anyway, and that’s how they beat L.A. last year.

Power forwards

Now we’re getting to the big men where the Lakers will have the advantage. At power forward we will be seeing a lot of Pau Gasol vs. Serge Ibaka. Ibaka finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting last season but still has some issues guarding good post-up players like Gasol.

Gasol was not very assertive last year though especially against the Thunder as he only averaged 12.9 points per game against them in the playoffs. Gasol looked much better in the Olympics but it isn’t a guarantee he will carry over that level of play back to the NBA.

Ibaka seems to always play big against the Lakers too. He can get his midrange shot easily with Gasol matched up with him and averaged 4.0 blocks per game vs. the Lakers in their playoff series.

Gasol is expected to be more comfortable with the Lakers next season in their Princeton offense and with Nash. Ibaka should improve too though and will be able to slow down Gasol again.

Centers

This is where we see the biggest change. Howard is far and away the best center in the NBA right now. It’s easy to forget this since most of our recent memory with him is how he ruined his image in Orlando.

Howard is impossible for almost any team to match up with except maybe the Thunder. Kendrick Perkins has always had the reputation as being one of the few guys in the NBA who could guard Howard one-on-one. While this may not be exactly true it should still limit the Lakers’ advantage over the Thunder at this spot.

The key with the Thunder vs. the Lakers is they don’t have to double anyone. The Thunder never had to double anyone last season until they got to the NBA Finals and ended up stuck with Harden guarding LeBron in the post. That’s a huge reason why they lost and a huge reason why they got that far is that they are able to match up with every team man-to-man.

This is why the Thunder should still be considered the favorites in the West. The Lakers got better but not quite enough to dethrone the Thunder, at least without seeing them play yet.

The Thunder and Lakers will play for the first time next season Friday, Dec. 7 on ESPN. Howard is expected to miss the beginning of the season but could be back in time for that game. If he isn’t, the next meeting between the Thunder and Lakers will be Jan. 11.

FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann and his group plan to propose the sport to have it included in the Olympics as early as 2016.

“Like volleyball has beach volleyball, swimming has synchronized swimming, we want three-on-three to be part of it,” Baumann told USA Today.

Baumann said that 3-on-3 would give more countries a chance to be represented in Olympic basketball and help grow popularity of the sport globally. Each country would be responsible for coming up with a way to rank their best 3-on-3 teams and have one represent them.

It’s hard to imagine NBA players would be participating in this. It seems more likely that this would be an Olympic sport where the U.S. always sent amateurs.

It would be interesting to see the kinds of rules that would be set too. Obviously it would be played half court but usually with 3-on-3, there aren’t officials. You call your own fouls and there is far less structure than what there is in every other Olympic sport we currently have.

It seems like this should be further away from happening than the next Olympics, but four years is a long time to get something done.

For fun, imagine the best USA team we could put together. LeBron-Durant-Howard with maybe Rose as a sub. Rubio-Gasol-Gasol would have a tough time getting the gold from that squad.

There has already been a lot of talk regarding the future of USA Basketball. We know that Mike Krzyzewski will not be the head coach although he plans to remain involved with the program to some extent. Doc Rivers, Gregg Popovich and Doug Collins are a few of the names rumored as possible replacements.

A lot of the players from the 2012 team are likely to not return in 2016. Kobe Bryant said that this was his last Olympics and a few others may not be back either. Four years is a long time and players like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul will all be in their 30’s in 2016.

There has also been some talk of the NBA implementing a 23-under age-limit for future United States basketball teams. It is unlikely though that will come into effect until 2020.

If we look at the 2012 roster, there are a few players who are good candidates to be on the team again in 2016: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis seem the most likely. LeBron and Anthony might be the old guys who decide to give it one more run in what would be their fourth Olympics.

That leaves at least five more roster spots assuming no one else returns. Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin are two of the youngest players who would have been playing on this team. They both missed these Olympics due to injury. If chronic injuries become a growing concern for either, they might not be options in 2016 either. Dwight Howard will still be young enough to be an option as well.

A couple of point guards from the Select Team seem like good options in Kyrie Irving and John Wall. Both were former No. 1 picks which often are invited to the team.

Some other hopefuls from the select team include Kawhi Leonard, Greg Monroe and Paul George. Rookies Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bradley Beal and Harrison Barnes are likely to be candidates as well.

There is also a very high likelihood that there will be a few players to make the 2016 team that aren’t in the NBA just yet. Some names that come to mind are top recruits Nerlens Noel, Shabazz Muhammad and Jabari Parker.

It’s really hard to tell at this point what the roster may look like in four years but here is what I am projecting:

Point guards: Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving
Shooting guards: James Harden, Paul George
Small forwards: Kevin Durant, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kawhi Leonard
Power forwards: Kevin Love, Blake Griffin
Centers: Anthony Davis, Greg Monroe

I think in 2016, we will make sure to send over a team that has more size than the 2012 team had. Love, Griffin, Davis and Monroe will be a good foursome to have banging down low. Of course, Durant can play a lot of the four as well.

Rose and Westbrook will probably start in the backcourt. Irving is going to be a monster by 2016 and Harden will be in the conversation for best shooting guard in the NBA with George right behind him.

MKG will be the Iguodala of the team. MKG is going to be a very well-liked player at this point and considered a kind of glue guy for this team.

Leonard seems like another guy who a lot of people are high on. He was impressive in his rookie season with San Antonio and is expected to increase his role with them going forward.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Lakers pulled off the biggest move of the summer last week when they traded for Dwight Howard. It is a move that will shake up the landscape of the NBA, as is always a case when a player as talented as Howard switches teams.

The Lakers finished the season last year as the 3-seed in the Western Conference behind the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. Now they are being talked about as potentially the NBA title favorites.

But should we be talking about them already as title favorites?

The Lakers starting five for next season will certainly be an impressive one. They are returning Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace from last year and now adding Howard and Steve Nash.

The pieces should fit in seamlessly. This won’t be a case like we saw in 2011, when LeBron, Wade and Bosh joined together in Miami and it took some time getting used to. Nash’s selflessness will ensure this more than anything.

With Nash running the show, he will get the ball to players when and where they need it. Kobe is at a point in his career where he shouldn’t stand in the way of this too much. Expect a bounce back season from Gasol too now teamed with Nash.

There is some potential for the personalities to not exactly gel. Howard is known as a kind of jokester that doesn’t take things seriously enough. He was able to be this way in Orlando as the clear alpha-dog of the team playing for a franchise that had so much invested in him. No one was going to call him out for that behavior but that will change in L.A. playing alongside Kobe.

There is the question of age too. Nash is 38 and Kobe is an old 33. Both are on the decline but showed last year they can still play at an elite level. It will continue to become harder to sustain that level but playing with Howard will make it easier.

It has been easy to forget just how valuable Howard has been during all of the recent drama. Before Howard ruined his image, he was deservedly so considered one of the most valuable players in the league. The effect Howard had in Orlando was remarkable, leading that team to high playoff seeds and anchoring one of the most efficient defenses in the NBA with little support around him.

Howard did get injured this past season and is expected to miss the beginning of next season. If he can get back to 100 percent, playing at the level he has shown in the past, the Lakers may very well emerge as NBA title favorites.

Of course there are a few teams that would like to have a say in this. The Miami Heat are coming off an NBA championship season last year with LeBron James playing as well as he ever has. The Heat made some noise this offseason too adding Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis to the roster.

In the West, the Thunder, Spurs and Clippers are all returning very formidable teams that will be able to compete with the Lakers. The Thunder got to the NBA Finals with a very impressive playoff run through the West’s elite and are only expected to improve upon that next season with the experience they gained.

We know what to expect from the Heat and Thunder. The Lakers are more of a wild card and that’s why they shouldn’t be called the title favorites just yet. We need to see what they do on the floor first and until then, the league still belongs to the Heat and Thunder.

The Lakers made the two biggest moves of the summer now, trading for Howard after trading for Steve Nash earlier. They now have a starting five that suddenly looks like it might be the best in the NBA including Howard, Nash, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant.

“That’s what the Lakers do,” Kevin Durant said. “They have great management and ownership to make those moves come to life.”

The defending Western Conference champs still say they are the team to beat in the conference though.

James Harden also gave his view of Dwight trade: “It doesn’t take away from us at all.” Is OKC still the team to beat in West? “Of course.”

— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) August 11, 2012

Harden is right on with this. We’re always so quick to crown teams before they’ve even stepped on the floor together as is the case with the new-look Lakers.

The Thunder may not be making drastic changes to their roster for next season but that’s because they don’t have to. They’ll gladly take the lessons learned from an NBA Finals loss to the Miami Heat and experience of their four best players playing in the Olympic gold medal game tomorrow into next season without shaking up their roster at all.

It’s no doubt however that the Lakers have improved their roster and done so dramatically. They’ll be better next year but the Thunder will too. And the Lakers have a lot of ground to make up on the Thunder.

The only thing that is for sure is that NBA fans will be robbed if somehow the Thunder and Lakers don’t meet in the Western Conference Finals.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Dwight Howard has finally been traded from the Orlando Magic as part of a 4-team blockbuster sending him to the Los Angeles Lakers and a bunch of other players elsewhere.

The Lakers got Howard as well as Chris Duhon and Earl Clark from Orlando. The Magic received Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Moe Harkless, Nikola Vucevic, Josh McRoberts and Christian Eyenga as well as some future draft picks. Denver received Andre Iguodala and Philadelphia got Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson.

Howard heading to L.A. surely headlined this trade but it wasn’t the only important part of the trade.

Here’s a breakdown of the four teams involved with the trade:

Los Angeles Lakers

We might as well start with Howard’s destination, L.A. The Lakers did it again here, snagging the top center in the league to remain relevant. They did so by only having to give up Andrew Bynum and somehow hanging on to Pau Gasol.

The Lakers have now acquired Howard and Steve Nash in one summer and will strut out a starting lineup with them, Gasol and Kobe Bryant. They’ve immediately put themselves into the NBA title conversation with what many are calling the best starting five in the NBA now.

The Lakers got everything they wanted here and more. Pairing Nash and Howard will make for one of the more deadly pick-and-rolls in NBA history, even at Nash’s age. Throw in Gasol who should get an appropriate amount of touches with Nash handling the rock and Kobe at a point in his career, ready to sacrifice even more to win and the Lakers look better than ever.

They may or may not be favored to make it to the NBA Finals but that doesn’t really matter. They are now in position to match up much better with the West’s biggest competition, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Howard has said he wants to test out free agency next summer but still, the Lakers should be able to hang on to him long-term. They can offer him an extra year and $20 million more on his contract and after a year in L.A., it seems very unlikely he’d want to bolt.

Howard is said to likely not be ready for the start of the season, still nursing his ailing back but that’s not a problem for the Lakers at all.

Orlando Magic

The Magic waited a pretty long time before finally dealing Howard. The idea was that they were holding out for a really good package and would keep him as long as possible, maybe even through the trade deadline of next season.

It was more than surprising to see the kind of deal Orlando made out with here. The package of young talent and picks they are getting isn’t as good as the one Houston had been offering them. They didn’t want to deal with Houston though only because the Rockets wouldn’t take on enough of their bad contracts apparently.

Afflalo and Harrington are basically pointless and they couldn’t even get Gasol out of the deal, whether they wanted to keep him or not they could have easily traded him somewhere for something.

They aren’t screwed with guys like Afflalo and Harrington now and it is clear that new GM Rob Hennigan wants to try and emulate what the Thunder did, bottoming out and drafting high for three years in a row. Good luck with that finding the next Durant-Westbrook-Harden trio in the next three drafts.

Denver Nuggets

Denver is very happy with what they did in this trade, besides allowing the Lakers to acquire Howard, which in the long run may have made this a bad move by them.

But getting Iguodala while parting ways with Afflalo and Harrington is a big upgrade for them. Iguodala will fit in perfectly with what they’re doing over there. As an athletic wing and defensive stopper, Iguodala will thrive in Denver’s up tempo offense and give them something they were missing on defense.

Denver was going to be a playoff team next year and now become that much better. They have a legitimate shot at getting to a 4-5 seed in the West and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers are also very happy getting Bynum here as hard as it was to say goodbye to Iguodala, who gave them so much over the past eight years. Bynums don’t come around too often and upgrading to the second-best center in the league is a big move for Philly, especially since they’re in the East.

Bynum will be a very tough matchup for any team in the East, including the Miami Heat. No one’s saying they are going to compete with the Heat now but they definitely took a step closer.

They were a 7-9 seed team with Iguodala as their best player and Bynum will raise that ceiling. They should be right there with Indiana, Boston and Chicago now.

There is a chance Bynum won’t work out perfectly though. He’s a knucklehead and has had some big injury concerns in the past. But Philly had to take this chance. Bynum was a first-time All-Star last season and now in a place where he can get 20-plus shots a night, might blossom even more.

Oklahoma City Thunder

We have to include the Thunder in this trade because they are very much affected too, along with the rest of the league. OKC looked to have the West locked up for the next five years easily but now they are being questioned as the favorites in the conference.

The Lakers definitely upgraded and should be highly touted but the Thunder aren’t making any lateral moves next year either. They expect to improve simply from the invaluable experience they gained after an NBA Finals trip as well as adding some bodies to the rotation like Eric Maynor and Perry Jones.

Howard is scary to a lot of teams but the Thunder actually have a guy who can match Howard’s physicality in Kendrick Perkins. Yes, Perkins is now relevant again. It looked like the league might have been shifting to small ball but not so fast. Perkins is exactly what the Thunder need to contend with Howard next season.

The Thunder actually matchup well with the Lakers elsewhere too. Serge Ibaka can keep up with Gasol, Westbrook is a nightmare for Nash on defense and no one is slowing down Kevin Durant.

It was never going to get easier to win titles and this trade is an example of that.

Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Dwight Howard has finally been traded from the Orlando Magic and it’s the Los Angeles Lakers that will be acquiring him as first reported by ESPN’s Marc Stein. Sources say that a trade call will be made to the league office Friday morning to complete the deal that will involve a total of four teams.

The Lakers would acquire Howard and the Magic would get Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless and a first round pick from each team at least. The Denver Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala and the Philadelphia 76ers will get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson.

Howard finally being traded is a long time coming and just about everyone is glad to see him finally leave Orlando. Howard has said he does not want to sign an extension and wants to test free agency next summer.

The Lakers will have until June 30 next year to get Howard to sign an extension. In the long-term, extending with the Lakers would benefit Howard the most financially so there’s still a good chance he will do so or simply re-sign with the Lakers next summer while he’s testing free agency.

It was reported yesterday afternoon that this 4-way deal might happen and it was including Pau Gasol in the deal then. Now it appears the Lakers will not have to give up Gasol and are basically just swapping Bynum for Howard.

The Magic were patient in their quest to part ways with Howard and wanted to wait for the best deal possible. Somehow that is coming in the form of what they are getting here.

Philadelphia and Denver both should be happy to be a part of this. Philadelphia has wanted for awhile now to find a way to become more than a perennial 6-8 seed in the East and getting Bynum for Iguodala might have the potential to make them a serious contender in the East.

Denver is kind of in the same boat and isn’t losing much in this deal while acquiring an All-Star in Iguodala who will certainly make them a better team.

Howard’s saga in Orlando seemed to last forever and there were times where it didn’t look like there was going to be an endpoint. It’s good that is finally over and of course it’s the Lakers once again swooping in and acquiring the best center in the NBA.

The first is Iggy going to Denver. This will improve Denver, but not enough to make them a series threat in the Western Conference. But dear Lord how fun is this team going to be to watch? Denver and OKC have already had some of the most memorable regular seasons games with their up tempo style of play, and Iguodala will  play right into that.

Mar 14, 2012; San Antonio, TX, USA; Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (12) shoots a free throw during the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT

Second of course is bring Dwight to LA. It is pretty much set that the Lakers will start Nash, Kobe, Metta, Pau and Dwight. That is a lineup that will scare quite a few teams. The biggest issue is that if the Lakers land Dwight(and he is 100% healthy) that pretty much means that….. gulp, OKC can’t amnesty Perkins.

It’s a well known fact that OKC will be cap burdened in the near future.  With the emergence of Ibaka and Harden, it was going to be tough to afford the current roster in two years. There was a glimmer of hope however, Presti signing smart short term deals kept the possibility alive of being able to resign Harden and Ibaka, and amnesty Perkins. This is absolutely impossible if the Lakers get Dwight Howard.  With all-star shooters Dwight in crunch time, it will be nearly impossible to double Dwight on the block.  There are going to be other articles showing that Perkins vs Howard is overrated and Perkins doesn’t dominate this match up as much as thought. I am just going to go out and say it, that I don’t care about any stats for Dwight on offense the last three seasons. Literally every team either hard doubled Dwight or dug down with a soft double since the Magic were horrible.  Perkins is absolutely the best one on one defender to defend against Dwight. It isn’t even a question.

It is still early to speculate, but Dwight and Pau both in LA almost cements  Perkins in OKC for the duration of his contract. As much as it hurts, we might have to start realizing the fact the Harden could walk as a restricted free agent. As more details emerge, Thunderous Intentions will keep you up to date on all trade related talk and reactions.

@codybrees 

Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Trade talks have resumed again over Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. The Magic and Los Angeles Lakers have been trying to come up with a deal that would send Howard to L.A. for a few weeks now.

The latest development now involves a proposed blockbuster trade that would include the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers as part of a 4-team trade, according to Yahoo! Sports.

The Lakers would receive Howard and Al Harrington, Orlando would get Pau Gasol and Arron Afflalo, Andre Iguodala would go to the Nuggets and Andrew Bynum to the 76ers.

The biggest thing keeping Orlando from dealing Howard thus far is that they haven’t seen a deal out there worthy yet. Gasol and Afflalo are nice pieces and it is also believed though they would try and flip Gasol somewhere for young players and picks.

The Houston Rockets could possibly be interested in Gasol as they have stockpiled a roster full of young talent and draft picks. Houston was part of the 3-way trade that was vetoed last year that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers and Gasol to Houston.

More details will have to come out with this potential deal though because Orlando still definitely wants to give up more than just Howard. They want to start over in a sense, ridding themselves of all their bad contracts. Taking on Gasol and Afflalo doesn’t exactly accomplish that.

Kobe Bryant said earlier this summer that Pau was his guy and wasn’t going anywhere. The Lakers roster already looks very nice for next year with Steve Nash alongside Kobe, Gasol and Bynum. They’d be trading two for one to take on Howard in this deal which is a little bit of a risk.

The other interesting wrinkle in this deal is Iguodala and Bynum’s potential landing spots. You have to think Philadelphia would be all for swapping Iguodala for Bynum and trying to build their team around the young center.

Iguodala would probably seamlessly fit in with Denver and what they’re doing with the top scoring offense in the NBA, possibly making them a little bit more of a dangerous playoff team.

The deal isn’t close to being done though as the teams are just in early talks right now.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Kobe and head coach Mike Brown have discussed in detail the possibility of the Lakers switching their offense to the Princeton style next season.

“It’s a great offense,” Kobe told Yahoo! Sports. “It’s exactly what we need. It takes us back to being able to play by making reads and reacting to defenses. It takes a great deal of communication, but that’s where we’re at our best: Reading and reacting as opposed to just coming down and calling sets. Calling sets make you vulnerable.”

The Lakers will look different next season with or without Dwight Howard. They traded for Steve Nash shortly after the season ended which will throw an entirely new variable into the Lakers and Kobe.

Kobe has never played with a point guard quite like Nash before, one who is so talented and has dominated the ball so much in his career. Both Kobe and Nash will be due to adjust now playing together and this new offense may play a big part in that.

The Princeton offense, which is considered a close relative to the Triangle offense Phil Jackson ran with the Lakers, will allow for more versatility from more players. Someone like Pau Gasol will be a perfect fit in it as he is such a great passer for a big man and skilled in so many ways.

As Kobe continues to age, now 33, he will continue to look for more ways to gain an edge on the competition. The great players always do this. They don’t just keep deteriorating as time goes on, they keep fighting during their athletic decline and often will rise back up in forms we haven’t seen before.

Kobe embracing an offense that won’t feature him as much as an isolation monster is an example of this. It’s really just what the Lakers need from him too.

The Lakers were bounced in the second round of the playoffs this past season in five games by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder and Miami Heat met in the NBA Finals in what was a glimpse into what the future of the NBA will look like. The Lakers realize they need to change some to keep up with these young guns.

The Lakers have vaulted probably to the second-best team in the Western Conference for this coming season. The Thunder are still considered the class of the conference but adding Nash has moved L.A. ahead of the Spurs, probably unfairly.

There is still a great chance L.A. will trade for Dwight Howard before the season begins too which will make them that much more potent of a title contender.

The Thunder got over what some would consider a big hump beating the Lakers, the team that has dominated the Western Conference for so long, in a series a few months back. The Lakers aren’t rolling over and dying though.

The Thunder will be considered the favorites in the West this coming season but there will be a lot of work to do to repeat and make it to the NBA Finals again.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Dallas Mavericks may become the frontrunner to land Dwight Howard next summer if he is not traded to the Lakers or Nets and becomes a free agent instead, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

Howard has said before he would like to test free agency next summer making this point even more impactful for Dallas. Howard does not want to sign an extension with any team he is traded to but would be willing to re-sign if it is the Lakers or Nets.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban broke up a championship team a year ago in hopes of being able to lure Howard and Deron Williams to Dallas in the near future. Cuban struck out with Williams who signed an extension with the Nets this summer and now will focus all of his attention on Howard next summer if he is available.

Orlando Magic GM Rob Hennigan met with Howard Wednesday to discuss his future. Howard made it very clear he does not want to remain part of the Magic organization saying he would “never sign another contract with the Magic,” according to RealGM.

Howard said he would like to either be traded to the Lakers soon, traded to Brooklyn in January or simply become a free agent after the season ends.

The Magic certainly want to get something back for Howard and all his drama and would prefer to trade him. The potential trade with the Lakers would involve the Cleveland Cavaliers as a third team. The Houston Rockets have also still not given up on trying to trade for Howard.

The Lakers would send Andrew Bynum to Cleveland in the potential trade. Bynum was rumored to be meeting with the Lakers to discuss a contract extension for himself but his agent has since denied any such meeting. Bynum seems to have been left in the dark as far as trade talks have gone which may be an indicator of how far away a deal is to be being done.

If somehow Howard is not traded and remains with the Magic for all of next season then the Mavericks will really have a chance to sign him in the summer. But if Howard is dealt to either the Lakers or Nets, we can fully expect him to stay with that team beyond next season.

The Rockets destination would be the only other scenario for Howard to get traded too then still test free agency in the summer. GM Daryl Morey is very willing to risk trading for Howard and convincing him to stay past one season despite Howard being open about not wanting to play there.

Talks about who would be the favorite to sign Howard next summer may be a bad sign for him getting moved anytime soon. Orlando has said they aren’t necessarily in a hurry to trade Howard but everyone knows they’d love to rid themselves of Dwight’s drama as soon as possible.

Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Lakers have emerged as the frontrunner to trade for Dwight Howard this summer. But the Orlando Magic are in no rush to deal the All-Star center, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard.

The Magic have stood their ground on trading Howard. They aren’t going to give him up for nothing and now maybe won’t give him up at all.

Sources told Broussard that the Magic may be willing to wait until after the season starts and all the way until the trading deadline in February before trading Howard. They are waiting for the best possible deal and their recent trade talks with the Lakers may be to try and get other teams to jump in with a better offer.

The potential trade between Orlando and the Lakers would also include the Cleveland Cavaliers as the third wheel. Howard would go to L.A., Andrew Bynum would go to Cleveland and the Magic would receive a slew of picks and some young prospects.

The most recent news surrounding that potential trade was Howard saying he does not plan on signing an extension no matter where he is next season. He wants to test free agency at least somewhat next summer but whichever team he ends up on will be able to offer him the longest contract worth the most money.

On paper, this deal still seems not quite as good as the potential package the Houston Rockets would be willing to send Orlando. Houston GM Daryl Morey has been going “all-in” to try and acquire Howard by stockpiling picks and first round draft picks from this year’s draft to try and entice the Magic to pull the trigger on a deal.

Houston is confident too that they would be able to convince Howard to stay with the team beyond next season.

The Rockets have signed this offseason two restricted free agents in Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik. They are paying each quite a bit of money but the signings of both shouldn’t impede their attempts to trade for Howard.

The fact of the matter is that the Magic still have plenty of time before deciding what they want to do with Howard and they intend to take that time. It’s a smart move as the landscape of the NBA and potential trade partners can change on a daily basis.

The Brooklyn Nets who first appeared to be the frontrunners for Howard this summer and were the team that Howard said he wanted to be traded to, would be back in the hunt if Howard is still on the Magic by Jan. 15, 2013.

When the Nets extended center Brook Lopez, who would have been an integral piece in a Howard trade, it meant they couldn’t trade Lopez until Jan. 15 of next season. Brooklyn had essentially moved on from trying to trade for Howard or maybe they knew Howard wasn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.

Orlando dragging out the Howard saga may seem like a bad idea and many people would like to see the Magic trade him and rid themselves of his drama but it may be smarter for them to hold out for the best possible deal, even if that means waiting until next February.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma City Thunder free agent Nazr Mohammed will sign with the Chicago Bulls, according to a report by Peter Vecsey.

Mohammed was reportedly meeting with the Bulls and Brooklyn Nets and will now choose the Bulls.

The Thunder filled out their roster shortly after free agency officially started. They are letting go of Mohammed, Derek Fisher and Royal Ivey and replacing them with rookies Perry Jones and Hollis Thompson and also Hasheem Thabeet.

The Bulls signing Mohammed all but assures they will not match the Houston Rockets’ offer sheet they agreed to with Omer Asik for three years, $25.1 million.

The Rockets will not have signed restricted free agents Jeremy Lin and Asik this offseason to pretty heft contracts.

The No. 1 priority for Houston still is to trade for Dwight Howard. Having Lin and Asik on the books will give them less cap room but it shouldn’t impede their attempts to go after Howard. Lin and Asik at least will be something of a consolation if they do not get Howard.

The Los Angeles Lakers are still considered the frontrunner to trade for Howard. The rumored deal that could go down right now will include a third team in the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Andrew Bynum would be dealt to Cleveland although he has not been notified of this possibility and the Cavaliers would want Bynum to agree to extending with them beyond next season if they were to trade for him.

Howard will unlikely extend with anyone next season and instead plans to test free agency next summer. Whichever team he ends up with will be able to offer him the best contract to try and keep him however.

Thunder free agents Mohammed and Ivey have found new homes now this summer leaving just Fisher who is still in search of a new team. Fisher has also been rumored to have met with the Bulls and Nets as well as Dallas.

Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Lakers have emerged as the frontrunner to land Dwight Howard this offseason. The potential deal that would send Howard to L.A. is a 3-team trade between the Lakers, Magic and Cavaliers.

The deal has a potential snag with Cleveland wanting Andrew Bynum to say he’ll extend past next season but even so, the Lakers are the most likely destination for Howard right now.

The idea of Howard playing alongside Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol for the Lakers is scary to think about. Howard is one of, if not the most valuable player in the league with how he affects the game.

Would the Lakers surpass the Oklahoma City Thunder as the favorites to come out of the Western Conference if they land Howard? Would they become the NBA title favorites?

Not so fast. It shouldn’t be forgotten what OKC did last season making it to the NBA Finals. They deserve to be recognized as the best in the West until they are dethroned even if Howard is wearing purple and gold at the start of next season.

The Lakers have already drastically improved their team for next season by trading for Nash. The knock on L.A. the past few seasons was that they needed a point guard. With Kobe’s skills fading, the team now needed a true point to help him run the show.

Nash is more than a true point. He’s one of the best ever and while it’s hard to imagine at first how he and Kobe will mesh in the same uniform, you just kind of know they’ll figure it out.

Nash wasn’t going to solve all of their problems though. At 38, Nash is still one of the best point guards in the league offensively but struggles on defense as much as he ever has. The league and Western Conference in particular is so loaded with talented point guards these days that could become a real problem.

How do you solve Nash’s defensive woes? Howard would be that answer. The Lakers would practically be inviting players to drive past Nash with Howard waiting. No player in the NBA over the past five seasons has made the kind of defensive impact Howard has, turning a cast of mediocre defenders in Orlando to one of the premiere team defenses in the league. If there was ever going to be a way to hide Nash on defense, it would be with Howard patrolling the paint.

But this is still not quite enough to already put the Lakers ahead of the Thunder in the West. We’d definitely have to see them in action first before really knowing if they could challenge the Thunder in a playoff series but the Thunder are getting better too.

The Thunder of course have the best young roster in the NBA. Their progression in win percentage and playoff performance each season has been impressive. For next season coming off an NBA Finals appearance, there’s no reason to think they’ll take a step back.

The most talented team can always dictate how far they go in this league. The Thunder are that next to any other roster in the NBA. Team USA Basketball is comprised of 25 percent Thunder players. They are that good.

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden are only going to get better. The rest of the Thunder team compliments their Big 3 making them tailor made to take down this Lakers team.

Thunder GM Sam Presti had the Lakers in mind when constructing this roster. That’s why they traded for Kendrick Perkins. He knows that the Lakers will always be around in the West and making sure you can take them down will in the long run always be the No. 1 priority.

Durant is going to be a mismatch problem for any team including the Lakers. Metta World Peace may very likely be out their door and the defensive options to throw on Durant will be slim for L.A.

Westbrook is the greatest problem though. We know Nash can’t stay in front of him because we found out no one could stay in front of him last season. He will continue to do whatever he wants against the Lakers and since he gets better every season, that will be even more devastating of a thing next year.

Dealing with the Lakers bigs won’t be a problem for OKC either. In fact, the Thunder would prefer that to having to go small and try and match up with LeBron James at the four. Perkins and Serge Ibaka are more than capable of slowing down a Howard and Gasol duo enough to still win a series.

Getting back to the NBA Finals will become more difficult if Howard is on the Lakers next season though. There’s no questioning that but there should also be no questioning of the Thunder, what they are capable of and what they are committed to. They will be ready for whatever challenge comes their way and have shown that it’s probably a good idea to bet on them at the end of the day.

Thunder fans don’t have to worry yet. They are safe atop the Western Conference and no one is challenging them quite yet. The Lakers have emerged as the team with the best chance especially if they land Howard but they aren’t the team to beat yet.

Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic are still working on a deal that would send Dwight Howard to L.A.

Howard, who previously said the Brooklyn Nets was the only team he would extend with beyond next season, is now committed to an extension with the Lakers as well, according to Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.

The potential trade between the Lakers and Magic would more than likely have to involve a third team. Right now the team trying to be the third wheel in a Howard deal is the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In the potential trade between these three teams, the Cavaliers would receive Bynum and the Magic would get Anderson Varejao and multiple draft picks.

Howard going to the Lakers has really always been the move that made the most sense for him. If he wants a ring, given the current landscape of the league and potential destinations for him, the Lakers are the right spot.

There were some rumors that Howard would not want to go to the Lakers because he would be the second-fiddle to Kobe Bryant but that doesn’t look to be the case anymore.

After acquiring Steve Nash earlier this month, the Lakers could possibly be considered title favorites with Nash, Kobe, Howard and Pau Gasol.

Howard’s health is still a concern though and he might not be ready to play by the start of next season. That isn’t the end of the world for the Lakers if he goes there but he’d definitely have to get to 100 percent for them to compete for a title with him.

Howard sent direct messages on Twitter a few days ago describing how he can barely walk right now and Orlando is not being totally forthright about his injury.

The Lakers are ready to make this trade and the Cavaliers probably are too and would love to team Bynum up with their young core of Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson.

Orlando is likely the team that will be last to say “yes” on this. The Houston Rockets still consider themselves very much in the mix to trade for Howard and still could muster up a better package of young players and picks to send the Magic.

Orlando has said before too that they are not in any hurry to get a deal done soon. So while the Lakers may be anxious to finalize this soon, we may have to wait a little longer before we see where Howard will end up.

Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

The New York Knicks had until tonight at midnight to decide if they would match the offer sheet Jeremy Lin signed with the Houston Rockets. According to Howard Beck of the New York Times, the Knicks have decided not to match the offer.

When word of Lin and the Rockets reaching an agreement on this offer sheet was first announced, the Knicks were thought to without question be planning to match it. Then the Knicks traded for Jason Kidd and Raymond Felton and their plans to keep Lin went away.

Lin will make $25.1 million over three years with the Rockets. Had the Knicks matched they would have paid Lin $5 million in year one, $5.225 million in year two and then a whopping $14.8 million in the third year.

By that third season if the Knicks kept Lin they could incur a tax penalty of around $43.75 million.

That seems like a lot but the Knicks would have more than made up for that in other profits the team would see because of Lin.

The stock of Knicks parent company MSG is up 20 percent since Linsanity began, with Nate Silver of the New York Times reporting that MSG’s market capitalization has gained $600 million since that fateful day in February when Lin took over as the Knicks’ starting point guard.

So what happens to MSG if the Knicks fail to retain Lin? “As of late Monday morning, on the mere possibility that Lin might not be re-signed, MSG stock had lost about $50 million in market value,” Silver wrote. This was on a rumor — imagine what the company’s losses will be if losing Lin becomes a reality.

via ESPN’s Larry Coon

The Knicks would have other options too in dealing with Lin’s loaded third year. They could trade him before that season or waive him. If they were to waive him, the new “stretch provision” in the CBA would have allowed New York to stretch out Lin’s 2014-15 salary over three seasons giving them more cap room for those years and much less of a luxury tax hit.

It is hard knowing this to think why the Knicks could possibly decide against matching Houston’s offer for Lin. They’re letting a 23-year old point guard walk who took the city by storm last season and losing a ton of money in the process.

The Rockets and GM Daryl Morey are more than happy that they will get Lin. Lin will make a huge impact in terms of jersey sales and ticket sales and is a great consolation prize for Houston if they are unable to land him.

The Rockets’ point guards thrived in a pick-and-roll heavy system last season very similar to how Lin thrived under Mike D’Antoni when he first came on. It will be a better basketball fit for Lin in Houston.

The Rockets also don’t have to pay Lin the huge 2014-15 salary and risk tax penalties then. They have the cap space now and will have a cap hit of around $8.3 million each season instead.

Houston still plans to keep trying to trade for Dwight Howard. Lin may not help the situation much and could put Houston in a tougher situation than they were before to land Howard, especially if Chicago chooses not to match Omer Asik’s offer sheet Houston offered him.

Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to meet with Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic to work on a trade for the All-Star center, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

The Lakers would like to receive a commitment from Howard that he will extend with the team beyond next season if they trade for him. Howard said previously that the only team he would extend with was the Brooklyn Nets.

There have been plenty of rumors involving Howard being traded to the Lakers. Most likely a third team would have to be involved for Orlando to get the best deal back from Howard involving either young prospects or a bunch of future draft picks.

The only team not interested in hearing Howard commit beyond next season with them is the Houston Rockets who are still “all-in” in attempting to acquire Howard. GM Daryl Morey has set up his roster with a slew of young assets and picks to throw Orlando’s way and they currently look like the team with the most to offer the Magic.

Howard sent direct messages on Twitter this week indicating that Orlando has not been totally up front about his health. Howard missed the end of last season and had back surgery and basically said he could barely walk in the direct messages.

There is a chance Howard would not be healthy to play by the start of next season and there is even a rumor out there (although unlikely) that Howard would choose to sit out the entire 2012-13 season if he remained with the Magic.

The team hoping for Howard to stay put until next summer is the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas tried to clear up cap to attract Deron Williams this summer but that did not work out and now they will do the same for Howard next summer.

Meanwhile Dallas looked as if it would end up with a very depleted roster losing Jason Terry and Jason Kidd but a couple of recent signings have salvaged a decent roster for them. Unrestricted free agent O.J. Mayo announced on Twitter that he will be signing with the Mavericks this season. Earlier in the week, Dallas grabbed Chris Kaman, Elton Brand and stole Darren Collison from Indiana.

The 2011 NBA champions are a far different team now and with an aging Dirk Nowitzki will not be back competing for a title any time soon unless they are able to sign a player like Howard.

Dallas beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in conference finals in 2011 and then got swept by them this past season in the first round.

With all of the recent movement around the league and the Western Conference in particular, OKC will still be considered the heavy favorite to make it to the NBA Finals again. Their biggest competition perhaps will be the Lakers since they have acquired Steve Nash, although the Thunder beat L.A. in five games in the second round this past postseason.

The other L.A. team, the Clippers are also up and coming in the West and have made a few nice moves to improve their roster starting with extending Blake Griffin for the next five years. Griffin suffered a knee injury during the Team USA training however and will have surgery Monday.

The Clippers have also signed Jamal Crawford and re-signed Chauncey Billups. They have also reportedly agreed to a 2-year deal with Grant Hill who was also considering the Lakers, Heat and Knicks. The Clippers were missing out on wing players on their roster this past season but adding Hill and Crawford will help them in that department.

The West has certainly gotten stronger from last season and we haven’t even mentioned the San Antonio Spurs who will have the same roster next season.

The Thunder don’t have to make moves to improve though. The experience they gained making it to the NBA Finals was enough.

The Knicks were believed all along to be planning to match the offer sheet Jeremy Lin signed with the Houston Rockets for three years, $25 million but now trading for Felton makes it seem like the Knicks will pass on Lin.

The Knicks would incur some pretty steep luxury tax penalties if they were to match Houston’s offer for Lin but many believe the value of Lin in New York and his effect on ticket/jersey sales would be able to make up for it.

Lin played in 35 games for the Knicks this season and averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists per game. Felton played for the Knicks in the 2010-11 season and averaged 17.1 points and 9.0 assists per game.

The deal between New York and Portland will also involve the Knicks sending Jared Jeffries and Dan Gadzuric to the Blazers for Kurt Thomas along with Felton. Felton will be set to make around $10 million over the next three years with New York.

The Knicks could still potentially match Houston’s offer for Lin but after also trading for Jason Kidd this offseason, acquiring a third point guard in Lin doesn’t seem to make much sense.

The Rockets will be happy to get Lin although their main priority is still Dwight Howard. Lin thrived in the pick-and-roll under Mike D’Antoni and Houston is a system that loves their point guards in the pick-and-roll with Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic doing so well in it last year.

The latest rumors on Howard’s potential movement now involve a 3-team trade between Orlando, Cleveland and the Lakers that would send Howard to L.A. and Andrew Bynum to Cleveland.

Although now that deal looks to not be happening either, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports.

The Magic would make out of the deal with a package of picks and prospects, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. This potential deal is very far from being done but does seem the most likely trade Howard would accept.

It is unlikely that any team would be able to offer a greater package of picks and prospects than Houston though.

Howard trade rumors are different every few days but many still believe the Lakers have the best chance of getting him like they’ve done so many times before with the NBA’s best centers.

Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

The Orlando Magic have stopped making progress on a potential Dwight Howard trade for the time being. The Brooklyn Nets are now out of the picture and no deal elsewhere seems imminent for Howard.

Orlando was close to a deal with the Nets. They would have received three future first round picks and Brook Lopez and would have given up Howard and one of their bad contracts. The deal never looked great for the Magic and that’s why it wasn’t much of a surprise when it fell through.

The Lakers appear to have possibly the best package to send Orlando’s way with Andrew Bynum. But Bynum hasn’t agreed to re-sign with the Magic past next season leaving Orlando holding out for more.

The Magic and GM Rob Hennigan seem more interested in acquiring picks and young players than a replacement for Howard in Bynum that would leave the team in a similar situation trying to keep him.

The Houston Rockets have emerged as the team with the best possible offer for Howard. It is a deal that the Magic should take advantage of and get done as soon as possible.

Houston is doing everything possible to get a chance at Howard most recently cutting cap room so that they will be able to absorb a few bad contracts from the Magic. The Rockets have amnestied Luis Scola which means they would be able to take on Glen Davis, Jason Richardson and Chris Duhon along with Howard.

The Rockets can put together a package involving multiple future first round picks, Kevin Martin, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, Chandler Parsons and the rights to their three first round picks this year, Jeremy Lamb, Royce White and Terrence Jones.

The Magic can do exactly what they wanted to all along if they make a deal with the Rockets. Orlando gets to part ways with Howard and clear a ton of cap essentially allowing them to start over from scratch with a bunch of young talented players as well.

Howard has yet to agree to re-sign with the Rockets after next season if he is traded there but Houston and GM Daryl Morey remain optimistic they would be able to convince Howard to stay after a season with the team.

While the Rockets are going all in to acquire Howard, they have also made a few offer sheets to restricted free agents Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik. If Lin and Asik’s offers are matched by the Knicks and Bulls then the Rockets will have more cap space to go after Howard. The Rockets don’t want to pull out of any of the promised offer sheets either.

The Knicks are expected to match Lin’s offer sheet despite the Rockets increasing the amount in the deal. It was first reported that Houston offered Lin a 3-year, $19 million deal but has since increased to a 3-year, $25 million deal.

The Knicks could incur upwards of $45 million in luxury tax penalties by the third year of Lin’s contract if they match. All indications are that the Knicks aren’t too concerned about entering the luxury tax penalties over the next three seasons.

“We’ve moved on. It just got to a point where we couldn’t keep going back and forth with Orlando. They had about 14 days to do something and didn’t. We just had to move on, and we felt that way this morning,” a Nets source told ESPNNewYork.com’s Ian O’Connor.

The Nets have offered Brook Lopez a max 4-year, $58 million deal and are discussing the possibilities of adding a fifth year. The Nets did this to prevent Lopez from signing an offer sheet with another team (he had offer sheets ready to sign with Portland and Charlotte) and it has also made it so Orlando is no longer interested in trading Howard to Brooklyn.

Orlando Magic GM Rob Hennigan said that if Lopez signs a deal of that magnitude than any chances of trading Howard to Brooklyn are gone.

Hennigan informed Howard today that the Magic attempted to make a deal with the Nets but that they could not come to one and now Orlando will focus its energy on finding a new head coach.

With the Nets now out of the picture for Howard, the Los Angeles Lakers look to be by far the frontrunner for Howard although a potential deal between L.A. and Orlando is far from close to being done.

The Lakers would have to trade away Andrew Bynum to get Howard and have said they would be willing to accept Jason Richardson and his contract as part of a potential deal.

Bynum hasn’t said he would re-sign with the Magic past next season however which is part of why Orlando would be hesitant to make that deal. If the Magic were to get Bynum though, they could potentially offer him a 5-year, $100 million deal next summer which would be tough for anyone to turn down.

Orlando is most interested in getting as many draft picks as possible so a third team would likely be necessary to sweeten a potential deal with the Lakers.

The Lakers most recently traded for Steve Nash and a core involving Kobe Bryant, Nash and Howard would be a dream for the Lakers and immediately put them in the discussion for making it to the NBA Finals next season.

The Houston Rockets are the other team still in the mix for trading for Howard. Houston could offer the Magic the best package of draft picks and young players that Orlando wants but Howard has said he would not re-sign past next season if traded to the Rockets.

The Rockets seem unconcerned with that however and would be willing to take their chances with Howard for one season.

The Magic have said before that they are in no particular rush to trade Howard who may not even be ready to play by the start of next season due to his back injury. It is hard to imagine Howard playing another game in an Orlando Magic uniform though so a trade still seems more likely than that.

Camby will sign a 3-year, $13.2 million deal. The Rockets will receive Toney Douglas, Josh Harrelson and Jerome Jordan along with second round picks in 2014 and 2015.

Camby was deciding between a few teams including the Miami Heat but would have had to take much less money to go play in South Beach.

The Knicks have also come to terms with their two shooters from last season, Steve Novak and J.R. Smith.

Novak has agreed to a 4-year, $15 million deal with New York and Smith a 2-year, $2.8 million deal.

New York is putting together what feels like a better roster than last season’s. Not getting Steve Nash was devastating but they are still making progress.

Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert is a restricted free agent this summer and agreed to a 4-year, $58 million offer sheet with Portland. Indiana expectedly plans to match that offer.

Free agents cannot officially sign until July 11 and at that point, teams will have three days to match any offer sheets that are signed.

The Orlando Magic are still working on getting a deal done to trade Dwight Howard. Yesterday, a third team (the Cleveland Cavaliers) was brought into the mix with Orlando and Brooklyn. Now the Nets are looking to involve the Los Angeles Clippers as well.

Brooklyn wants to trade MarShon Brooks to the Clippers for another first rounder to use in the package they will send Orlando in exchange for Howard.

The deal still looks like highway robbery for the Nets and it is unclear if the deal is really close enough for the Magic to say yes.

The Clippers would make out great if they can swap a first round pick for Brooks who had a very nice rookie campaign.

A 3-way trade has been proposed between the Magic, Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers that would involve 10 different players.

• Brooklyn would receive Howard, Jason Richardson and Earl Clark.
• Orlando would receive Brook Lopez, Damion James, Sheldon Williams, three first round picks and Luke Walton from Cleveland.
• Cleveland would receive Quentin Richardson, Sundiata Gaines, Kris Humphries, a first round pick and $3 million cash from Brooklyn.

The Nets are also looking to add another first round pick in the trade to send to Orlando by trading MarShon Brooks.

This deal does not look any more appetizing for the Magic than some of the previous deals they reportedly were not interested in.

This proposed deal feels a little similar to when the New York Knicks were said to be the frontrunner for Steve Nash and then he suddenly ended up being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Maybe the Lakers swoop in again out of nowhere to add another superstar?

The Lakers still want to trade Andrew Bynum to the Magic in a deal for Howard but the Magic are hesitant since Bynum has not said he would re-sign with Orlando following the 2012-13 season.

Orlando would be able to offer Bynum a 5-year, $100 million deal next summer which would be tough for him to turn down.

Source w/knowledge of situation says Nets & Magic have exchanged medical records for Dwight Howard & Brook Lopez (via @RicBucher)

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 9, 2012

The Cavaliers can help facilitate the trade by taking on Kris Humphries in a sign-and-trade as well as possibly MarShon Brooks. The Magic would receive Brook Lopez along with three first round draft picks.

The deal for Orlando does not seem much better than the ones rumored between them and the Nets earlier that the Magic were not interested in. However, it is rumored that this deal could be done by the end of the day today.

Brooklyn would suffer harsh luxury tax penalties over the next four seasons if they do get Howard. The penalties could amount to over $100 million in four years but they still seem determined to get Howard.

“You can talk about the new (luxury) tax all you want, but if the Lakers get Nash and the Nets get Howard, then what did the new CBA accomplish?” one GM told ESPN. “You have to realize part of long-term planning is making sure you don’t help create teams you can’t beat.”

The Nets are not limiting themselves to Cleveland as the third wheel in a Howard trade and are shopping Humphries around the rest of the league as well.

The Magic agreed to another trade yesterday sending last year’s Most Improved Player, Ryan Anderson, to New Orleans in a sign-and-trade for Gustavo Ayon. Anderson will receive a 4-year, $36 million deal.

Anderson benefited greatly from playing alongside Howard as a spot-up four getting a ton of open looks from three. We will see if he can still be effective in a different landscape without Howard.

The Hornets are happy to get a good rebounder and shooter to put alongside No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis for next season.

The Chicago Bulls also made moves yesterday bringing back Kirk Hinrich to a 2-year, $6 million deal. The Bulls now have to decide if they will match Houston’s 3-year, $25 million offer sheet for Omer Asik.

Derrick Rose may not be recovered from his torn ACL until well after next season has started for Chicago. The Bulls are likely parting ways with C.J. Watson so signing Hinrich here is a big move for them.

July 11 is the first day that free agents can officially sign. Teams will have three days to match offer sheets their restricted free agents signed elsewhere.

Jeremy Lin, Eric Gordon and Roy Hibbert are three of the biggest named restricted free agents that signed offer sheets with other teams. All three are expected to have those offers matched by their former teams.

The Magic want to get something back for Howard. They’re not just trying to get rid of him, at least not yet.

Orlando is willing to wait all the way until the trade deadline of next season if they have to and don’t have a deal worthy of Howard by then.

The Brooklyn Nets were the first team in the running to trade for Howard. But a deal involving Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks and picks never satisfied Orlando. The Nets moved on and traded for Joe Johnson instead, making it even more difficult for them to pull off a trade for Howard.

Howard said that Brooklyn was the only place he wanted to go and the only place where he’d agree to re-sign with past next season.

After Brooklyn fell off, the Los Angeles Lakers appeared to be the most likely suitor for Howard. They have the best individual trade piece for Howard in Andrew Bynum but Bynum is also in the final year of his contract next year and hasn’t agreed to re-sign in Orlando if he is traded there.

The Magic aren’t interested in dealing Howard just to rent Bynum for a season. They’re holding out for more.

A dark horse for Howard may be the Atlanta Hawks. After trading Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams away, new GM Danny Ferry appears to be trying for a dream scenario that would involve bringing Howard and Chris Paul to the Hawks in 2013-14.

Howard is from Atlanta but has not said anything about wanting to play there.

The Dallas Mavericks are another team with an outside shot to get Howard. Dallas went all-in on Deron Williams this offseason and they did not land him. They are left with a depleted roster but plenty of cap space to entice Howard with a max-deal next summer if he is a free agent then.

The Magic want to get rid of Howard, that’s for sure, but they’re not going to do it for nothing. They know they are rebuilding anyway and are in no hurry to trade Howard.

Howard may not even be healthy yet by the start of next season as he is still rehabbing his back.

Another center on the market now is Marcus Camby. Camby is reportedly deciding between the Miami Heat and New York Knicks.

The Knicks appear to be the frontrunner as the Heat can only offer Camby the veteran minimum of $1.4 million per year. New York is looking to do a sign-and-trade for Camby and give him $3.09 million per season.

The Heat recently signed Ray Allen of course and if they are somehow able to get Camby too that would be a home run for them in free agency. It looks unlikely however as there is a good chance Camby will be returning to play in New York next season.

Lin will be able to sign it officially on July 11 then the Knicks will have three days to match. The deal is worth $10.2 million over the first two seasons and $9.3 million in the third and fourth year with the final year being a team option.

The Knicks can offer Lin a 4-year, $24.5 million deal.

Jason Kidd surprisingly chose the Knicks over the Dallas Mavericks. Kidd was rumored to be close to re-signing with Dallas and was earlier rumored to plan to follow Deron Williams wherever he signed.

Kidd’s deal with New York will be a 3-year, $9 million deal.

Every indication is that the Knicks will match the offer sheet for Lin and team up the two point guards. A lack of a point guard was a glaring hole in the Knicks’ roster during the playoffs. Carmelo Anthony turned into an isolation machine playing right into the hands of the Miami Heat defense.

Kidd and Lin should be able to help with that, especially Kidd who has the right personality to control things on offense even next to a superstar like Anthony.

The Minnesota Timberwolves made a few big signings last night.

Brandon Roy has come out of retirement and agreed to a 2-year, $10.4 million deal with the T-Wolves. Minnesota also signed another former Blazer in Nicolas Batum to a 4-year, $45 million offer sheet although Portland reportedly plans to match any offer for Batum.

The Timberwolves clearly are looking to strengthen their wing positions to surround Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love with better guys. Minnesota also traded for Chase Budinger before the NBA Draft.

Trade talks between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard have lessened. The Lakers after trading for Steve Nash now intend to keep their core of Nash, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

Bynum was involved in trade rumors that would send him to Orlando in a deal for Howard but the Magic have not shown a lot of interest in any deal presented to them this offseason.

The Brooklyn Nets are still trying to work on a deal to get Howard although they’re chances of landing them seem increasingly less.

Ray Allen has narrowed down his decision of where he wants to play to the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. The Los Angeles Clippers were thought to be int he running yesterday before signing Jamal Crawford and Chauncey Billups.

The Heat appear to be the frontrunner although only able to offer Allen $3.09 per year while Boston has offered Allen a 2-year, $12 million deal.

Jennifer Stewart-US PRESSWIRE.

Steve Nash was unexpectedly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers last night in a sign-and-trade with the Phoenix Suns for four draft picks and cash.

Nash was expected earlier that day to be closer to signing with the New York Knicks and a few days before that, the Toronto Raptors were the frontrunner for the former back-to-back MVP winner.

But as fate would have it, the Lakers swooped in and grabbed one of their former rivals. Nash in a Lakers jersey was unthinkable until yesterday. The Suns were even rumored to have turned down a deal to L.A. because they couldn’t stomach the idea of Nash playing there.

Now that he is there, how does this change the landscape of the Western Conference? Are the Lakers back now as NBA title contenders with Nash?

The Lakers get better with Nash, that’s for sure. Los Angeles has been looking for a point guard for some time now. They traded for Ramon Sessions at the trade deadline last season and that looked like it might work for awhile until Sessions disappeared in the playoffs.

Nash will be 38 years old at the start of next season but is still a productive player. He averaged 12.5 points and 10.7 assists last season in Phoenix. He also shot .532 percent from the field, .390 from three and .894 from the free throw line.

There is no question that Nash can still produce. The biggest question is how he will fit in with Kobe Bryant.

Kobe has never really played alongside a traditional point guard in his NBA career. Derek Fisher has been the point next to him for most of his days and the Lakers were a triangle offense team that didn’t feature a point.

Because of this, Kobe is used to having the ball in his hands as much if not more than the point guard he’s playing with. If you’ve watched Nash play, you’ll know that he too has the ball in his hands as much as any player in the league on offense.

Both Kobe and Nash will have to adjust. Nash will not be featured like he was in Phoenix. Kobe may want to let Nash patrol the floor with the ball in his hands a little more than he is used to.

Kobe and Nash may not work perfectly but they won’t fail. Nash is too good of a teammate and Kobe cares only about winning and he knows Nash is coming on board to assist in that.

Kobe will probably not benefit dramatically with Nash and get way more open looks. It will be the other players, especially Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, that feel the biggest change with Nash on the floor.

There is one area that Nash does not help at all and maybe even hurts the Lakers: defense. Nash has never been a good defender even back when he was super quick and winning MVP’s he still acted as an open door for guards like Tony Parker to easily drive by.

The greatest competition in the Western Conference for the Lakers will be of course the Oklahoma City Thunder. Just go down the list of their big three and you’ll see why they aren’t totally scared of the Lakers now any more than they were last season. They still can’t guard Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook or James Harden.

But the Lakers weren’t all of a sudden going to be the favorites to come out of the West after signing a 38-year old point guard. They are better though and their potential is a little unknown and possibly greater than we might think.

The other factor now in play with the Lakers signing Nash is Dwight Howard. L.A. didn’t give up much to get Nash so Howard is still technically very much in play with them. After Brooklyn pretty much fell through for Howard, the Lakers seem the most likely suitor for him.

A package involving Bynum is probably the best deal Orlando could get back for trading away the best center in the league. There has been discussion between the two teams with a trade looking like: Bynum and Metta World Peace to the Magic for Howard and Jason Richardson.

If the Lakers could end up with a lineup looking like Nash, Kobe, Gasol and Howard, we can start talking about them as NBA Finals hopefuls. Until then, it’s the Thunder’s league and everybody else is just playing in it.

Made a very tough decision today…. lockerz.com/s/222071318

— Deron Williams (@DeronWilliams) July 3, 2012

Williams reportedly narrowed down his decision to the Nets and Dallas Mavericks and was meeting with the two teams over the past 48 hours.

The Nets traded for All-Star shooting guard Joe Johnson yesterday in a deal that was made to team up Johnson with Williams.

Williams would not have been able to make as much money playing in Dallas, who only could have offered him a deal around 4-years, $75 million.

Jason Kidd has been rumored to sign wherever Williams chose and played golf with him some the past few days.

The Nets re-signed Gerald Wallace to a 4-year, $40 million deal earlier this week. They are expected to try and re-sign Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries now as well.

For Kris Humphries to stay with Nets, he would have to accept the veteran’s minimum salary and that isn’t happening. So consider him gone.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 3, 2012

Brooklyn was the team Dwight Howard wanted to be traded to from Orlando but the Magic have not been interested enough in any type of deal with the Nets.

There were reports earlier today that Brooklyn was willing to offer Lopez, Humphries, MarShon Brooks and three future first round picks to Orlando in exchange for Howard but the Magic were not interested in pulling the trigger on that.

Brooklyn will have most of their money tied up in just a few players especially if they re-sign Lopez and Humphries. The Nets have certainly improved their roster from last season and making sure they kept Williams was huge for them.

The Los Angeles Lakers may have the right package that could convince the Magic to trade Howard and it would involve Andrew Bynum.

Howard and Bynum have been linked together in trade talks since last season and Bynum is certainly now the best individual player Orlando could land for Howard.

The Magic also want to give up the bad contracts of either Hedo Turkoglu or Jason Richardson in a potential deal with the Lakers.

The Magic want to specifically include Richardson in a deal with the Lakers and the Lakers have said they are prepared to offer Bynum along with Metta World Peace in the potential deal.

Howard said earlier this week that he wanted to be traded to Brooklyn and that is the only team he would promise to re-sign with after next season.

The Nets traded for Joe Johnson since then which will make it harder but not impossible for them to now also trade for Howard.

Brooklyn would be willing to trade Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries and three future first round draft picks to Orlando for Howard but the Magic apparently are too interested in that deal and would rather hold out for something better.

Howard injured his back at the end of the regular season and has been rehabbing ever since. He may not even be ready to play at the beginning of next season so the Magic are in no hurry to trade him just yet.

As of right now, the Lakers and Bynum are the frontrunner for trading for Howard although there may be one other unknown trade scenario.

Sources say there is one other trade scenario for a significant player that intrigues Magic general manager Rob Hennigan, but that target is unclear. Before the Magic would agree to consummate a trade for Bynum, they would need to know they could sign him to a contract extension, sources said. Bynum is entering the final year of his contract in the 2012-13 season.

via Adrian Wojnarowksi of Yahoo! Sports

The Nets may still be in play for Howard though. Orlando and Brooklyn are working on a deal for Howard that would send Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries and three future first round picks to the Magic.

The Nets have even said they would take on the contract of Hedo Turkoglu as well to sweeten the deal for Orlando.

Howard made it clear yesterday that Brooklyn was the place he wanted to go. He said that Brooklyn is the only team he would re-sign with following next season if traded there. Howard went on to say that if he wasn’t traded to Brooklyn, he would just play out next season in Orlando then test free agency in the summer of 2013.

Deron Williams still has not officially decided where he will play next season. It is down to Brooklyn and the Dallas Mavericks for him as he is meeting with both teams this week.

Jason Kidd will supposedly also sign wherever Williams chooses and has been playing golf with Williams in Brooklyn some over the past few days.

If the Mavericks cannot sign Williams this season, they would surely like to go after Howard themselves. Dallas could offer Orlando Rodrigue Beaubois, Vince Carter, Dominique Jones, Brandan Wright and rookies Jared Cunningham, Bernard James and Jae Crowder.

Despite Howard saying he would only re-sign in Brooklyn, the Mavericks and their owner Marc Cuban would surely be confident that they could convince Howard to re-sign in Dallas.

The Howard drama simply continues. Orlando would love nothing more than to get rid of him before the season but they won’t unless there is a deal out there good enough for him. The Magic can technically wait all the way up until the trading deadline during next season for the right deal so they may not be in the biggest rush.

The Lakers are still a team that could happen with a Howard trade. Andrew Bynum remains the best individual piece Orlando could land by trading their center.

The Hawks will receive Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmar, Jordan Williams, Johan Petro, DeShawn Stevenson and a 2013 first round pick. The deal is contingent with Williams staying in Brooklyn.

As teams finalize framework of Joe Johnson deal contingent on DWill commitment, Nets won’t be sending future 1st to Atlanta, source tells Y!

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 2, 2012

The trade will essentially end any possibility of Dwight Howard being traded to Brooklyn. Howard made it known today that there was one place he wanted to go and that was Brooklyn.

Howard is saying that he will not re-sign with another team besides Brooklyn and would rather just play the next season in Orlando then test free agency afterward.

The key for the Nets is they get to keep MarShon Brooks and Gerald Green as well. Gerald Wallace was just signed by the Nets to a 4-year, $40 million deal.

Over the past few days the potential of Johnson being traded to Brooklyn to play with Williams was rumored with the basis being that Brooklyn was not willing to wait on Orlando and Howard.

The Magic also did not see any possible package from the Nets as being worthy enough to send Howard to them.

With Brooklyn now out of the equation, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of possible suitors for the Magic to trade Howard. The Warriors have expressed interest as well as Houston but Howard is saying he will not re-sign anywhere besides Brooklyn.

The Lakers seem to be the only real possibility for Howard now. They are working on a trade that would send Andrew Bynum to Orlando which feels like the best possible deal for the Magic.

Howard ending up in L.A. shouldn’t surprise many as so many elite centers before him have gone to the Lakers at some point in their careers.

“There’s only one team on my list and if I don’t get traded there, I’ll play the season out and explore my free agency after that,” Howard told Yahoo! Sports.

That’s not exactly the attitude you want from your superstar. The Orlando Magic have known for a long time now that Howard wants out. The best thing they can do is get rid of him as soon as possible.

“As I told Dwight, I said ‘I don’t know. I have to think about what you’re telling me.’ I want to take some time to process everything,” Magic GM Rob Hennigan said. “And the answer is we want to map out what’s in the best interest of our team.”

Howard can want to go to whatever team he wants but the Magic don’t really care where they trade him. They want to get the best package possible for Howard and if the Nets can’t give them that then they won’t trade him there.

The Nets would be able to offer Orlando something like Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries and MarShon Brooks. The Magic should be able to find something better than that and they have opened negotiations with the Los Angeles Lakers about trading for Andrew Bynum again.

The Golden State Warriors are also still interested in trading for Howard even if he is not committed to staying with them beyond next season.

The Warriors have some young pieces that would possibly interest the Magic starting with the No. 7 overall pick from the draft, Harrison Barnes.

The Magic simply have to trade him though. It is clear Howard will not give them a very good effort if he stays part of the team through next season. It would be in Orlando’s best interest to deal him before the season starts.

Anthony Davis severely sprained his ankle in a workout with the Hornets and is now very unlikely to play for Team USA in the Olympics, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

Davis was added to the list of finalists for the Team USA roster along with James Harden in reaction to injuries to Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose and a few others.

Since the end of the playoffs, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat have said they will not be going to London to play in the Olympics as they try and recover from being banged up this past season.

Meanwhile, the Thunder still have three players who could compete for the U.S.: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Harden.

The injury to Wade opened up a potential spot for Harden and almost totally ensured that Westbrook would be playing. Durant is of course a shoo-in.

Team USA may be more thin up front now without Davis and Bosh but there aren’t a lot of replacements in terms of big men.

Tyson Chandler and Kevin Love seem like locks now while Blake Griffin might be the only other big for the U.S.

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay and Eric Gordon are the other main hopefuls for the team.

Harden may be able to make the roster since the team will also be short of 3-point shooters. Gordon suffered an injury last season so he may not be fully committed to going which would definitely open up the spot for Harden.

The NBA gave us a taste of the future of basketball in the NBA Finals as both the Heat and Thunder played a lot of small ball. Team USA will have to do that in the Olympics a lot too but the competition may be tougher especially from Spain.

Spain will strut out the Gasol brothers as well as Serge Ibaka and combine that with international rules and the United States will be at a disadvantage against them.

Team USA will begin training in Las Vegas, Nev. July 5-12. On Saturday, July 7, the 12 members of the final roster will be announced at 7 p.m. EST on NBA TV.

The Magic have been open to trade walks involving Howard who has made it clear he wants out. Howard says he wants to go to Brooklyn to play with Deron Williams but would probably be happy too in L.A. with Kobe Bryant.

A potential deal would certainly involve Andrew Bynum going to the Magic but not necessarily Pau Gasol as well. The Magic are looking for young players to rebuild their team with and Gasol doesn’t fit that mold as much.

The Lakers are still shopping Gasol as well who has gotten a lot of interest from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota has offered Derrick Williams to the Lakers for Gasol. A potential trade could also include Michael Beasley.

The Timberwolves would love to acquire Gasol to team him up with fellow countryman Ricky Rubio and All-Star Kevin Love.

It looks like the Nets will have a pretty tough time getting Howard. They haven’t totally given up hope but are taking action with other things.

Brooklyn signed Gerald Wallace to a 4-year $40 million deal today. The Nets have also looked into a potential trade to acquire Joe Johnson so pair with Deron Williams.

Williams plans to meet with the Nets and Mavericks Monday to discuss his potential future.

For Orlando, the Lakers would have the best package as of right now to get Howard by sending Bynum. Bynum was an All-Star for the first time in his career last season and is only 24 years old.

Williams will be able to get a contract worth one more year and $20 million more with the Nets but he is from Dallas and would have a better chance to chase a title playing with Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks.

Dwight Howard wants to play with Williams in Brooklyn. Despite running Orlando’s head coach and general manager out of town, Howard still wants out himself.

Dwight Howard met with new Magic GM Rob Hennigan Friday in LA. Howard told Hennigan he wants to be traded to Brooklyn Nets, sources say.

— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 1, 2012

The Nets simply do not have a lot to offer Orlando for Howard and the Magic aren’t going to let him go for nothing. Howard has a year left on his contract in Orlando and they will holdout until they absolutely have to let him go while trying to wait for the best deal for them.

Multiple league sources believe the Nets are losing hope they can pry Howard out of Orlando, and are working diligently to construct a roster to keep Williams that doesn’t necessarily give them the financial flexibility to absorb Howard when he can become a free agent next year. If the Magic do eventually make a deal for Howard – something that they haven’t shown an inclination yet to do with the Nets under new general manager Rob Hennigan – the Nets would be stocked with the kind of expensive veteran contracts that wouldn’t appeal to Orlando’s blueprint for rebuilding.

Williams has hoped to play with Howard in Brooklyn, but Orlando has shown no immediate intent to move its All-Star center, who has one year left on his contract, sources said. Williams has narrowed his free agent choices to Brooklyn and the Dallas Mavericks.

via Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski

The Nets have moved on to consider a trade for Joe Johnson to pair him up with Williams if they can’t get Howard. The Nets and Hawks aren’t close on a deal yet.

If the Nets do not get a deal done for Johnson or Howard, they plan to pursue O.J. Mayo in free agency and try to re-sign Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace.

One thing that seems a certainty is Jason Kidd going wherever Williams goes. Kidd has expressed interest in becoming Williams’ backup whether it is in Dallas or Brooklyn.

Williams is spending the weekend playing golf with Kidd in New York’s Hamptons, sources told Bucher, yet one more indicator the Nets have at least a fighting chance to keep Williams and add Kidd sometime after free agency begins Sunday.

via ESPN’s Chris Broussard

Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE

The first major trade before the 2012 NBA Draft has occurred involving the Houston Rockets and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Rockets traded Chase Budinger to Minnesota in exchange for the 18th pick in the first round as first reporter by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

The Rockets now have the 14th, 16th and 18th picks in the first round and it is clear that they are trying to pull off a package that could land them Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

The Timberwolves are past stockpiling first round draft choices as just about every player on their roster feels like they were selected in the lottery within the past five seasons. Budinger is a nice piece for them to build around Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.

Shortly after this trade was completed, Houston offered the Sacramento Kings Kyle Lowry, the 14th pick and the 16th pick for Tyreke Evans and the 5th pick in the draft.

The plan here is for Houston to have a package consisting of Evans, Kevin Martin, the 5th pick and the 18th pick to send to Orlando for Howard.

Houston is doing everything possible to get Howard even though it has been reported that Howard is not interested in resigning with Houston after the 2012-13 season.

The Rockets and their savvy GM Daryl Morey are confident in themselves and what they have in Houston that they will be able to convince Howard to stay after a season with the team.

Williams has been involved in many rumors over the past year since being traded from the Utah Jazz to the Nets. Now, it looks like he’s narrowed down his choices to two teams.

Sources say Williams, in any case, already has instructed his representatives to advise any team that calls starting at 12:01 a.m. July 1 that he intends to either re-sign with the Nets or return to his hometown with the Mavericks after a glittering high school career in the Dallas area.

via ESPN’s Marc Stein

The Nets would be able to offer Williams more money with a 5-year deal worth around $100 million while Dallas can only give him 4-years, $75 million.

“I want to go to a place where I feel like they will have a chance to build and build fast,” Williams told the Los Angeles Times. “I’m not really in the mood for being part of a rebuilding process. I’m getting older. I’m about to be 28. I want to win. I want to win now. Also, I want to live in a place where I want to live and my kids will enjoy living. That’s pretty much it.”

The Nets were hoping acquiring Williams would help woo Dwight Howard to them but now that it looks like that won’t happen, Williams may flee leaving the Nets completely empty handed.

Dallas sacrificed putting up a legit fight to defend their title to clear cap space for stars like Williams and Howard.

Free agency officially begins July 1 at midnight and players will not be able to legally sign new contracts until July 11.