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.

Thompson spent three seasons playing for Georgetown and averaged 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season for the Hoyas. He made 58 3-pointers last season and shot .430 percent from beyond the arc.

Thompson will be a small forward in the NBA at 6-foot-8, 212 pounds. He has more size than any of the other backup wings on the Thunder roster although it is not thought he will be getting many minutes next season.

Thompson actually declared for the NBA Draft last season but withdrew from it to come back for his junior season at Georgetown.

The Thunder roster is complete now with 15 players. The Thunder officially signed Hasheem Thabeet today as well to a 2-year deal.

The Thunder roster will featured three new players for next season with Thompson, Thabeet and rookie Perry Jones. The three players from last season that will be gone are Derek Fisher, Nazr Mohammed and Royal Ivey.

There were rumors earlier today that Grant Hill was interested in potentially signing with the Thunder and that will now obviously not happen.

There are two more days left of the Summer League in Orlando that the Thunder are participating in. Thabeet and Thompson now both can possibly join the team to play in those games.

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Grant Hill is interested in playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat or Oklahoma City Thunder next season, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com.

Hill has been linked with the Lakers ever since Steve Nash was traded there. Nash has been recruiting Hill to join him in L.A.

Hill was rumored to be considering the Heat dating back to last season as well before electing to remain in Phoenix. The Heat have signed Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis now this summer which may make it more unlikely for Hill to choose them.

The Thunder have one last spot open on their roster and Hill would surely be a nice fit. Oklahoma City does not have a lot of money to offer anyone and would likely only be able to offer Hill the veteran’s minimum.

Hill might be taking a little less money to play in OKC but the idea would be chasing a championship and he could really help the Thunder in that department.

A backup small forward for Kevin Durant is a need for this team. Daequan Cook pretty much plays that role now and James Harden plays the three with the smaller second unit.

Hill could give the Thunder another option at that spot and more versatility on offense and defense. Hill wouldn’t be asked to score much but is used to playing without the ball after a few seasons with Nash and has become a reliable corner, 3-point spot-up man.

Hill averaged 10.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last season and shot .264 percent from three. Hill shot .395 and .438 percent from three in the two prior seasons however.

Hill would give the most value to OKC with his defense. The Thunder did not have someone to spell Durant when covering LeBron James in the NBA Finals and Hill could do exactly that.

Using Hill in some closeout lineups alongside Westbrook-Harden-Durant-Ibaka would be an upgrade from either Thabo Sefolosha, Derek Fisher or Kendrick Perkins.

The likelihood that Hill will sign with the Thunder is probably less than the Lakers right now. It is promising though for Thunder fans to see a name like Hill’s linked with their team in free agency.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma City Thunder (1-game losing streak)
107.2 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.7 Defensive Efficiency (9th)
95.6 Pace (6th)
56.7 True Shooting % (1st)
51.6 Rebound Rate (3rd)

Phoenix Suns (1-game winning streak)
103.9 Offensive Efficiency (7th)
103.3 Defensive Efficiency (20th)
94.8 Pace (8th)
53.7 True Shooting % (6th)
49.0 Rebound Rate (23rd)

The Thunder are coming off a loss in their last game to the Los Angeles Clippers, 92-77, in which Oklahoma City scored the least amount of points they had all season. Tonight the Thunder will be playing their third game of a five-game road trip in Phoenix.

The Suns are currently sitting in the eighth slot in the West standings but the Rockets are right on their heels with the same overall record. The Suns need to finish the season very strongly to make it into the playoffs and they really have been one of the surprises of the season.

Thunder head coach Scott Brooks called Alvin Gentry the Coach of the Year today when asked about it and it is amazing what Phoenix is doing with the cast of players they have surrounding 38-year old Steve Nash.

Nash is second in the NBA in assists this season averaging 10.9 per game and he is shooting an incredible 53.5 percent from the field.

The Thunder and Suns played about five weeks ago with the Thunder winning 115-104. In that game James Harden scored a then career-high 30 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Harden’s struggles lately have largely influenced the Thunder’s dwindling play (4-5 in their last nine games) and if he can get going tonight with just five games left in the regular season it would be a very good sign for Thunder fans.

Harden wasn’t the only player to score over 30 in that game as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both did as well with the trio combining for 91 points.

The Suns did a great job early in that game against the Thunder as Nash and Grant Hill essentially were outplaying Durant and Westbrook but the young legs won out in the end.

With the Spurs beating the Lakers last night, Oklahoma City is now a half game back of San Antonio for the one seed in the West. If the Thunder and Suns keep winning the rest of the season we could see them meet in the first round of the playoffs.