Last season the most valuable NBA franchise in the New York Knicks was able to rebuild with two prominent superstars in Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. During the summer, the Knicks were able to sign the free agent Stoudemire and during the regular season made a blockbuster trade for Melo. These moves were thought to be just what this storied NBA franchise needed to get back into the playoffs and contend for an NBA title in the next few years.

Unfortunately, despite some success in the regular season, the Knicks folded in the NBA playoffs. Coming into their series with the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks were thought to give the defending Eastern Conference champions a run for their money, but that didn’t turn out to be the case as they were destroyed in a four-game sweep.

Even though the Knicks were a disappointment in the playoffs, the future looks bright in the Big Apple as this team could be very dangerous from here on out. The only problem the Knicks face right now is that they need one more piece to the puzzle in order to contend with the best of the best in the Eastern Conference.

Despite having one of the best point guards in the league in their backcourt with Chauncey Billups, the New York Knicks are going to keep their options open and might have their sights set on trading for two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash. Not only would Nash be the ideal fit with Stoudemire and Melo, but he would make the transition from Phoenix to New York seamlessly.

With his former head coach Mike D’Antoni calling the shots on the sidelines and former teammate Amare Stoudemire in the paint; this would be the best option for Steve Nash, but whether or not these two teams make a deal before the NBA trade deadline next season remains to be seen.

Recently, the trade rumors around the NBA have really started to ramp up with the NBA draft rapidly approaching. There is no telling when we will see the NBA start up again and with the league cancelling the summer league, things aren’t looking very good right now. Despite the fact that the NBA could be headed for a lockout like the NFL, teams around the league are actively looking to wheel-and-deal before tip-off next season.

The one team that might be looking to make a trade more than any other in the league right now is the Minnesota Timberwolves. With just 17 wins last season, the Timberwolves were arguably the worst team in the NBA last season and are in desperate need of some new blood to contend for the playoffs in the Western Conference.

The one bargaining chip the Minnesota Timberwolves have made available on the trade market is their second overall pick in the NBA draft. This pick is huge considering the talent at the top of the draft like promising big man Derrick Williams out of Arizona. There is no shortage of teams that would be interested in this pick, but there is one team that might be looking to trade a superstar for a superstar in the Los Angeles Lakers.

There is no question one of the biggest problems the Lakers had in the playoffs recently was the play of Spanish import Pau Gasol. With Gasol struggling and still the softy that everyone thinks he is, the Lakers seem ready to move him and might have their eyes set on All-Star Kevin Love.

Along with bringing in Pau Gasol, the Minnesota Timberwolves also have someone very familiar to the Spanish native in the form of rookie phenom Ricky Rubio. With Rubio announcing that he will play in the NBA next season, the Timberwolves have started weighing their options and one of those options could be trading Love for Gasol.

Ever since the Los Angeles Lakers were swept by the eventual NBA champion Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs, the trade rumors have been flying around Lakerland about what players might be available and what players they may be targeting.

Although changes to the roster may be on the horizon, the first order of business for the storied NBA franchise was finding a new head coach to replace Phil Jackson on the sidelines. This was thought to be long drawn out process if the team didn’t go with the obvious choice of assistant coach Brian Shaw, but it wasn’t as Jerry Buss and company didn’t take long to decide on the Zen Master’s successor.

Now that the Los Angeles Lakers have hired Mike Brown to be their new head coach, the focus has shifted towards the team’s current players and possible trade scenarios. There is no question this team was quite flawed in the end as this extremely talented team just couldn’t get it together. The one player that was the fall guy for all of this mayhem in the playoffs was perennial All-Star and two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol.

Even though Gasol redeemed himself in last year’s NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, the Spanish import seriously dropped the ball this time around as he absolutely fell apart in the playoffs. With very public slump in the playoffs, the talk around Lakerland is that Pau Gasol might be on his way out of town via trade.

Recently, the Spaniard has been involved in a very interesting trade rumor. This rumor could include the second overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft and All-Star forward/center Kevin Love. With Love having a breakout season last year and having that kind of toughness the Lakers are looking for, this could be the ideal trade for the storied franchise.

It has been two years since the Minnesota Timberwolves took a gamble on drafting Spanish phenom Ricky Rubio with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft. Even though the Timberwolves felt that they had the point guard of the future, Minnesota learned that they wouldn’t get their fifth overall pick anytime soon as the Spanish point guard was going back to Spain to play with Barcelona before heading to the NBA.

This was a messy and disappointing process for the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves, but it might finally be over as Rubio now has a contract signed with the team and will play in the NBA next season. The details of the deal with Rubio are uncertain and might remain that way until next season, but the promising young point guard is excited about his future as he says playing in the NBA is a dream come true.

Along with Ricky Rubio most likely being the starting point guard in Minnesota next season, the Timberwolves might be making some moves in order to make the transition to the NBA a bit easier for their future face of the franchise. The first move they are comptemplating is trading All-Star Kevin Love to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for another Spanish National Team player Pau Gasol.

Even though the Lakers haven’t said whether or not they are flirting with the idea of trading Gasol, the deal might be too good to pass up as they will get a 22-year-old All-Star in return. Last season was the beginning of great things to come for Love in the NBA and a future with the Lakers could be in the making.

Whether or not Ricky Rubio can play at the NBA level and be successful remains to be seen, but he is definitely making ways and creating some buzz in Minnesota.

The one player that has been mentioned in a lot of NBA trade rumors lately is the Orlando Magic’s superstar center Dwight Howard. With Howard becoming a free agent after next season and the Magic wanting to avoid not getting anything in return if the perennial All-Star leaves town, Orlando will almost certainly pursue a trade to bring in some star players in exchange for the three-time Defensive Player of the Year.

As of right now, Dwight Howard intends to become a free agent after next season. There could be many reasons behind Howard’s choice to become a free agent, but the main reason seems to be that the Orlando Magic isn’t going anywhere. Now that teams like the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat are getting better and better with every passing season, the Orlando Magic may be forced to trade their superstar.

The same situation happened last season with the Denver Nuggets. With superstar forward Carmelo Anthony refusing to sign a three-year contract extension with the team, the Nuggets were forced to trade Melo to the New York Knicks before the NBA trade deadline. In the end, the trade seemed to work out for both teams, but it created quite a stir in the league and dominated the headlines.

As for the Dwight Howard situation, there have been plenty of teams interested in trading for the superstar like the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets and the Chicago Bulls. Even though any one of these teams could ultimately land Dwight Howard, there is a new candidate in the running as the Golden State Warriors are reportedly interested.

This might be a long shot for the Warriors, but with all the recent trade talk involving high-scoring guard Monte Ellis, Golden State might be able to offer something for Orlando in return.

The Miami Heat came into this past NBA regular season with a cocking attitude and a sense of entitlement. With LeBron James and Chris Bosh playing alongside perennial All-Star Dwyane Wade in South Beach, the rest of the league took notice and were terrified of just how good this team could be.

The Heat were confident that they could win two, three, four, five and seven titles with their new Big Three, but in their first season together they failed to accomplish their goal of winning an NBA title. Obviously, with three superstars on the same team, the Miami Heat was held to a different standard, but couldn’t live up to the hype.

Even though they were unable to win an NBA title in their first season together in South Beach, the Heat did just come two games short of lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy and getting the best of the veteran Dallas Mavericks. With that being said, this team would need another season or two of playing together to really build up their confidence on the floor, but the rumors of a trade involving Chris Bosh have already begun.

Despite LeBron James getting most of the blame for the Miami Heat’s collapse in the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, Chris Bosh may be the first of the Big Three to be headed elsewhere. Personally, I believe that Bosh played the best out of the three superstars during the Finals, but he is the one player that they could trade and get two or more role players to make this team complete.

There is no telling whether or not GM Pat Riley will be actively pursuing a trade centered on Chris Bosh, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him flirt with the notion and attempt to bring in some much needed role players.

Last season ended in disaster for the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers as they were favored to make it back to the NBA Finals and contend for a third straight NBA title, but fell short after getting dominated by the eventual NBA champion Dallas Mavericks in the second round.

After getting swept by the Mavs in the second round of the playoffs, the Lakers were labeled as sore losers as reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom and big man Andrew Bynum were booted from Game 4 due to extremely hard fouls. With the team falling apart, the Lakers saw the end of the Phil Jackson era in Los Angeles and were forced back to the drawing board.

Now that the Zen Master has called it quits and the Lakers have hired Mike Brown to be their new head coach, this storied franchise could be in for some serious changes in the next few years. Perhaps the biggest question from here on out is how many years does five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant left in him?

If you were to ask Kobe, the two-time NBA Finals MVP would say that he could play until his is 40, but the reality is that he might have just three to five years left in his NBA career. There is no question that Kobe has lost a step, but much like Michael Jordan towards the end of his career with the Chicago Bulls, Kobe Bryant has changed his game by using his head and perfecting his shot.

Even though Kobe Bryant isn’t getting any younger at 32-years-old (33 on August 23), the Los Angeles Lakers are arguably one of the most talented teams in the league with All-Star caliber players like Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum playing alongside him.

Despite the fact that the Lakers are as talented as they come in the NBA today, the storied franchise might be looking to make some trades before next season. These trades could seriously impact Kobe’s future, but might also increase his chances of winning another title before he calls it quits.

A few years ago, the Portland Trail Blazers thought they had finally found their next superstar after drafting seven foot center Greg Oden out of Ohio State with the number one overall pick in the NBA draft. Even though the consensus was that Oden was destined to be a star on the NBA level and in some people’s minds the next great center in the league, that hasn’t turned out to be the case so far as the once promising young center has been injury prone throughout his entire NBA career so far with the Portland Trail Blazers.

This has obviously taken its toll on the Blazers as they did have an opportunity to draft proven superstar Kevin Durant with the first pick. With Durant being the league’s leading scorer two years running and leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Western Conference Finals last season, the former Texas Longhorn was without a doubt the better of the two players, but despite Oden going down with injury consistently and being considered another big man bust at number one in the NBA draft, the Blazers still have some faith in the big fella.

Reportedly, the Portland Trail Blazers had an opportunity to cut their losses with Greg Oden by letting him go this summer, but they appear to be ready to do the opposite as they are willing to pay him $8.8 million dollars for one more year in Portland. This has come as quite a surprise to Blazers fans and around the league, but Portland believes next year might be the year that Oden comes into his own in the NBA.

The New Orleans Hornets might be on the verge of an extensive rebuilding process as they may have just lost their leading scorer David West to free agency and could lose perennial All-Star point guard Chris Paul via trade or free agency next season or after the end of the season.

There is no question that the Hornets were going to lose Chris Paul one way or another if this team failed to improve through free agency or via trade, but now that David West is going to test the open market, CP3 heading elsewhere is a forgone conclusion.

Even though David West is one of the few quiet stars in the league like Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks, the fact that he is a star and will get a lot of interest around the league once he becomes available in the next few days. With the upcoming free agent market in the NBA not having that many star players or potential game changers, West could be one of the best big-name players available.

The two best potential destinations for David West will be with the Indiana Pacers or the New Jersey Nets. With both of these teams being led by young players and looking to contend for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference moving forward, David West would be a great fit for either team, but the Nets will probably be the team that could offer more money.

David West hasn’t made his intentions known as of yet in terms of what team he is leaning towards, but smart money says it will be with the New Jersey Nets.

Before the Dallas Mavericks were able to get the best of the revamped Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, the entire NBA was buzzing with trade rumors and speculation surrounding superstar center Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic. There has been a few teams linked with the perennial All-Star over the last few months like the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and even the Dallas Mavericks, but now it appears that Dwight Howard intends to become a free agent after next season.

This could mean one of two things. One, Howard will almost certainly be traded by the Orlando Magic during next season and before the NBA trade deadline. Two, this is a way to get the Magic to give him maximum money and maximum years.

The only problem that the three-time Defensive Player of the Year will have in the coming months is the doubts over whether or not the NBA will be headed to a lockout. If there is a lockout or a new deal struck, Dwight Howard could suffer greatly and might want a new deal as soon as possible, but with the recent news of the his intent to become a free agent I guessing the Orlando Magic will be looking to trade him as soon as possible.

With the value that Dwight Howard can bring to an NBA franchise, there is a good possibility that a lot of teams around the league will be pitching trade scenarios to the Orlando Magic throughout the summer and well into the NBA regular season if there is no lockout. My guess is that Howard won’t be in Orlando much longer and could potentially land with the Lakers in the near future.