NBA Trade Rumors: Impact Meter for Top 10 Players on the Block

It isn't until March 15th that the trade deadline comes upon us.

While it's still more a month away, trade rumors have been constantly popping up since the lockout ended in December. Already we have encountered blockbuster deals that have sent premier point guards to greener pastures on a different coast and we could definitely be in for some more if all goes according to plan.

In fact, there's a particular All-Star center milling around in the Orlando Magic organization who has had his name associated with a number of teams not called the Orlando Magic. He, and the nine other players on this list could very well be in a different uniform by the time the trade deadline reaches us.

These 10 players have all had their names associated with a particular trade rumor over the past few weeks. Whether teams have grown weary of them, the player has grown disgruntled with the franchise or the organization is simply looking to address a certain issue, the 10 players that we will soon mention have a large chance of being on a different team by March 15th.

Let's take a look at these players as we rank them in terms of the least to most impact on the teams they could soon be joining.

10. Jonny Flynn

To be honest, I had to look up if Jonny Flynn even played a game this year.

The former No. 6 pick has fallen so far off since his rookie year that he has become unknown. In his third NBA season, the point guard has played in five games and is averaging 12 minutes per. In those minutes, he's averaging three points on 26 percent shooting to go along with three assists, one rebound and 17 percent shooting from deep.

This from a player who once averaged 14 points and four assists per as a rookie less than three years ago. An awful sophomore year led to a lack of minutes and he's only continued his downward spiral as his current team, the Houston Rockets, find no reason to give him significant minutes. It's not until garbage time that we begin to see Flynn on the floor.

With Houston paying him no mind, the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks believe that they can resurrect his career. Word is that both teams are interested in making a trade for the third-year point guard. Even though Flynn has been abysmal the past two years, it would still be a tremendous help to either team if they pick him up.

The Knicks have been finding success with Jeremy Lin, but have no idea about the long term effects he'll have on the team. Lin, rookie Iman Shumpert, Mike Bibby and the injured Baron Davis is the current depth chart for the Knicks, who may be regretting giving up Chauncey Billups for Tyson Chandler.

The Lakers would actually improve with Flynn. Steve Blake has been injured for the majority of the year and with no Lamar Odom being able to run the point, the Lakers have been dependent on Derek Fisher as the primary ball handler. If you've watched Fisher lately, you'll realize there's an obvious need for a point guard.

9. Ramon Sessions

A solid point guard that's stuck as a second option with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Ramon Sessions could be starting for two prestigious franchises if his team and another party is ready to make a deal.

With the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks interested in the services of Sessions, the Cavaliers are open to offers and would be willing to make a trade happen if they can get a first-round pick in return for one of their most consistent players off the bench.

As stated before, both teams could use the help from a point guard like Sessions. The Lakers are simply looking for some sort of support for their Big Three and the Knicks are looking to acquire a point guard in order to make the offense run more efficiently. Since giving up Billups and allowing Carmelo Anthony to facilitate the offense, the Knicks have been stagnant on that end of the floor

Sessions is in his fifth year and is currently averaging nine points, five assists and three boards per off the bench. However, the relatively solid shooter is only converting on 36 percent of his shots from the field this year.

It's still better than Derek Fisher and Baron Davis.

8. Stephen Jackson

Stephen Jackson is confused on what his role is with the Milwaukee Bucks. Seriously, he has no idea what his purpose with the team is since that trade which sent Corey Maggette to the Charlotte Bobcats.

That's not a good thing for Jackson or the Bucks. It started off awkward with Jackson refusing to join the team's compressed training camp and has now escalated to the point of the volatile guard being benched numerous times for a number of reasons ranging from being late to practice or simply because the coaching staff didn't want to deal with Jackson's lack of quality play.

It has yet to be confirmed, but word is coming out of Milwaukee that Jackson wants to join a team that's going to have him as a part of their rotation. Can you blame him? He went from the highest scoring player and the focal point on the Charlotte Bobcats to a seldom used bench player that's used in stints on a Bucks team that constantly ranks near the bottom in points per game.

No word on any interest from any teams, but Jackson will surely receive some. Despite the poor effort he can give out, Jackson is still a stellar offensive threat that can beat you from anywhere on the floor. It'll be interesting to see if he can become a significant part of a team that chooses to utilize him as a second or third option or possibly even as a sixth man.

7. O.J. Mayo

A perennial focal point of trade rumors across the NBA, the Memphis Grizzlies are still dangling O.J. Mayo for any team willing to offer them the right price.

There hasn't been much word from the Mayo or Grizzlies camp lately, but the last we heard was that the organization was discussing a possible trade with the New Jersey Nets that would have sent Anthony Morrow to Memphis.

In that same article, it is also said that Memphis had no intentions of re-signing Mayo before the deadline on January 25th.

Mayo impressed in his rookie season with 18 points per game, but has dramatically regressed since then. After starting all 82 games for the first two years of his career, Mayo now finds himself as the teams' sixth man and playing behind defensive specialist Tony Allen, who took his starting spot at the two.

He's recovered from an awful third season where he only averaged 11 points per on 41 percent shooting, and now finds himself averaging 12 points on 43 percent shooting to go along with 39 percent shooting from deep.

O.J. would be an asset for any team either on the look out for a scoring shooting guard or a quick spark off the bench.

6. Mo Williams

Although the Los Angeles Clippers say that Mo Williams is currently not up for grabs, it seems hard to believe that when the team is set to have Randy Foye replace Chauncey Billups at shooting guard for the rest of the season.

Without Eric Bledsoe and now Billups, the Clippers suddenly look a whole lot more vulnerable. Outside of Williams, the Clippers have absolutely no offensive support off the bench. Gomes, Randy Foye and Brian Cook have been the top contributors off the pine next to Williams. If you want to guess what's going to happen in the playoffs to a team with that lineup, it's safe to assume that it won't be good.

Billups might have been undersized for his position, but his veteran leadership and his ability to hit timely three-pointers were huge to this Clipper team that heavily relied on him. Even though he was playing out of his element as a shooting guard and being assigned to players with the height advantage every night, Billups was still extremely effective and a tremendous offensive threat.

He was averaging 15 points per on only 36 percent shooting, but was also converting a career high two three-pointers per game on 38 percent shooting. Billups is basically Derek Fisher that carries significance outside of the final two minutes of the game. Chauncey was a huge asset and the Clippers are now going to be scrambling looking for someone to replace him.

With no players off the bench being desirable in anyway, Williams and Bledsoe are the only ones on this team that could even be considered to be trade bait. We'll just have to wait and see how the Clippers play without Billups to see if they'll be desperate enough.

5. Chris Kaman

After holding him out for a few weeks, the New Orleans Hornets have finally decided to invite Chris Kaman to rejoin the team.

Injury troubles to big men in Carl Landry (dealing with a second degree MCL sprain) and Jason Smith (dealing with concussion symptoms) have given the Hornets no choice but to invite the former Los Angeles Clippers center back to play with the team. Kaman had previously missed seven games before scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 boards back upon his return in a loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Even though Kaman can be a solid player to possess, the Hornets seem to be adamant about keeping Emeka Okafor as their starting center. Kaman has more intangibles, especially on offense, but the fact that he has constant injury troubles and has his contract ending in July caused the Hornets to openly pursue a trade.

Kaman, along with Gordon and Al-Farouq Aminu, was acquired in the trade that sent Chris Paul to the Clippers. None of the players have had much of an effect with the centerpiece in Gordon dealing with an injury for the majority of the year.

Although the Hornets have allowed Kaman to come back, there's no doubt that he will be up for grabs once Landry and Smith do make their returns. Once they do, Kaman will be right back on the trade block and ready to become a starting center once again on the team that picks him up.

4. Eric Gordon

Hey, at least the New Orleans Hornets have that unconditional first-round pick.

It's just too bad that the pick belonged to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who happen to be having their best year since Kevin Garnett's final season with the team. The chances are likely that the Hornets will get a lottery pick, but it's doubtful that they'll get a pick within the top five let alone the top 10.

As the days go by, this deal involving Chris Paul is looking worse and worse for the Hornets. Instead of having the Houston Rockets' finest and Lamar Odom in the deal that would have sent Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Hornets now have a disgruntled injured shooting guard, a center they're already looking to trade, a bust in Al-Farouq Aminu and a first-round pick that's not going to be all that it's cracked up to be.

The Hornets offered a deal to Gordon, but nothing could be reached. I spent three seconds pondering why before I observed New Orleans' 4-22 record. Even if Gordon was healthy, he simply doesn't have the roster surrounding him that's capable of going to the playoffs. If Trevor Ariza is the second best player on the team, there's an obvious problem.

Chris Paul has worked miracles, but this is ridiculous.

There has yet to be a franchise to openly come out and state interest in Gordon, but the chances are high that any team that can afford him or has the pieces will be looking to acquire the 23-year-old shooting guard. He averaged 22 points, two three-pointers, four assists and three rebounds in his final season with the Clippers last year.

3. Steve Nash

Certainly the most humble on this list, Steve Nash is by far one of the most loyal players that the NBA has ever seen.

Nash has the possibility of leaving the Phoenix Suns next year when he becomes a free agent, but it seems as if he's content with remaining a member of the team he has been a part of since the 2004-'05 season. Not much has changed since then either as Nash is still nearly posting up the same numbers he was averaging then and in his MVP seasons.

At the age of 37, Nash is averaging 15 points on 56 percent shooting to go along with a league high 10 assists per. He's also shooting 46 percent from deep. Even though he's playing with Marcin Gortat as his new Amare Stoudemire, Nash still has the Suns at 11-14 and with the slim possibility of making it to the postseason.

Many teams looking to contend immediately will be set to inquire about Nash. However, they have yet to make any moves because Nash is too happy being in Phoenix. He has no plans of asking for a trade or leaving anytime soon.

The Suns have said in the past that they'd be willing to work with Nash if he wanted a trade. They recognize that they won't be winning a title anytime soon, so they decided to not bring Nash down with them.

2. Amar'e Stoudemire

The New York Knicks got desperate for a little while there. It's a good thing that Jeremy Lin came along to save the prestigious franchise or else we could have seen the breakup of this ill-constructed team.

This little experiment of the Knicks isn't working according to plan. It turns out that putting two pure scorers together in Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire doesn't automatically make you a contender. Instead of throwing those two together and watching wins come to them, they faced serious chemistry issues as well as the fact that they were lacking any sort of consistent facilitator.

Over the offseason, the Knicks basically swapped a point guard in Chauncey Billups for a center in Tyson Chandler. The former Dallas Mavericks center has had little impact on the Knicks because of how set the team is in their offensive ways. Unlike with Dallas where the team also grasped that same defensive philosophy, the Knicks would rather continue struggling.

With the Knicks struggling, the team has gone about shopping their struggling All-Star power forward. The prolific scorer is currently averaging only 18 points and eight boards per. He's not getting many looks or shot attempts as Anthony and it's making this team look awful. With 'Melo facilitating and handling the ball, it's basically up to him on whether or not he wants to pass.

If you've watched Carmelo Anthony before, you know that passing isn't ideal for him. Rather than trading the problem away, the Knicks are looking to trade away a key piece for the possibility of getting back a star center or point guard.

Word is that the Philadelphia 76ers and Knicks were in talks about a possible trade involving Stoudemire. Any team with a point guard who can successfully run the pick-and-roll would immediately become considerably better if they have a player as smart and as prolific as Amar'e on their side and starting at the 4-spot.

1. Dwight Howard

You couldn't possibly think that we'd get through a trade rumor article without involving one of the league's most disgruntled and frustrated centers in Dwight Howard.

Averaging 21 points, a league leading 15 boards and two blocks per thus far, Howard has been his usual effective self with the addition of an even greater emphasis on rebounding the ball. Maybe losing the rebounding crown to Kevin Love last year has motivated Howard to rebound as much as ever because the 15 boards per is a full rebound higher than he's ever averaged in his career.

Howard may want a trade out of Orlando to a team like the L.A. Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls or New Jersey Nets, but he has yet to quit on his team like so many other players who send in their two-week notice. In fact, Dwight is recently coming off of a game where he recorded 25 points and 24 rebounds. It was the sixth time this year that Howard has had a game where he recorded at least 20 points and 20 boards.

Howard hasn't quit and he's making quite the pitch to interested teams. In a way, he's only helping the Magic organization since he's going to be commanding a lot more in return with the way he's been playing this year. The 6'11" brick wall is having one of the best years of his career as he continues to showcase a polished offensive game that's courtesy of offseason work with Hakeem Olajuwon.

Magic ownership sounds adamant about keeping Howard and they even went as far as to reject a trade with the Nets that was nearing the final stages of completion. They're not going to take the safe route of trading him now and bringing solid players in return, but rather risk it in free agency and face the possibility of losing Howard for nothing.

Obviously any team that obtains Howard becomes a lot better. Howard is the best center in the league and it's not even close, giving teams a supreme and automatic advantage against any team they face. There isn't one player that can stop Howard one-on-one and he only has room to improve if he continues learning the ins and outs of the offensive post game.