NBA Trade Rumors: Lockout Makes Trade Speculation Impossible

You can ditch the hopes of a few months of scintillating NBA trade rumors; the NBA lockout has taken care of the best part of the summer for basketball fans. 

Around this time, I usually bust out the Funyuns, YooHoo and beef jerky (yes, I eat like a pregnant woman) for a long session of NBA rumor hunting. 

It is a task that is as gratifying as laying on the grass and daydreaming all day. You see, the NBA is one sport that attracts with the individual player over the team. It is unique to the Association. 

People care about where Chris Paul is going to go, not what the Hornets plan to do about it. The sentiment stems from David Stern's ingenious structure of marketing the player ahead of the team. 

Well, it has worked all the way to making me crazy for the rumor mill to continue spinning. The sad fact is, the trades are closed for business. In even worse news, even the rumors will die a quick death at 12:01 on Friday morning. 

NBA teams really can't look into trades, swaps and free-agent acquisitions until the new CBA is within sight. 

There is simply, no way of knowing what structure they are working with. A hard cap would tie the bigger cubs to slice payroll and nix any huge signings in the free agency market. 

Trades could take place, but would have a different look as some teams try to get under the stiff auspices of the new cap. 

It would be nice to investigate Monta Ellis, Andre Iguodala or Lamar Odom's future, but there is certainty that teams would want them under a new CBA. 

We are about to head into a desert of epic proportions. There will not be any speculation to wet our whistle, or trade winds to blow our socks off. 

The summer just took a turn for the boring, and I am left with a whole lot of snacks, and nothing to keep my interest. Maybe I will check my fantasy football team. Oh, right.