NBA Trade Rumors: Predicting How the Balance of Power Will Shift at Deadline

NBA fans are still waiting for some big-time trades to go down before the March 15 trade deadline passes in less than one day.

The only show-stopping trade that's taken place so far is the head-scrather between the Golden State Warriors and the Milwaukee Bucks that sent Monta Ellis, Ekpeh Udoh and Kwame Brown to Milwaukee for Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson.

If that trade ends up being the biggest trade of the 2012 trade deadline, there's no doubt that the balance of power in the NBA will all but stay where it's at.

Fortunately for NBA fans, it's highly unlikely that there won't be any other trades before 3:00 p.m. ET, with rumors still circulating about potential trades that could take place.

While there are still speculated and rumored trades that may go down before the deadline passes, like Jamal Crawford to the Clippers, according to Ken Berger of CBS, or Raymond Felton to the Los Angeles Lakers, according to CBSSports.com, the balance of power in the NBA will most likely stay the same.

The only move, in my opinion, that would shift the balance of power in the NBA, specifically the Eastern Conference, is if a miracle happens and a team is able to pull Dwight Howard away from the Orlando Magic.

Even if the Los Angeles Lakers are able to add a point guard before the trade deadline or the Clippers are able to grab a shooting guard before March 15 comes and goes, those moves won't have the kind of impact that NBA fans are used to seeing after the trade deadline.

Unless something outlandish takes place in the next few hours, it appears that the NBA isn't going to look all that different, with the top contenders in each respective conference unlikely to make a move before the trade deadline passes.

With teams like Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City and San Antonio appearing disinterested in the thought of trading away anybody on their current roster, the power in each respective conference will look exactly the same as it does today.

The 2011-12 NBA season has brought us lots of memorable moments and exciting performances, but it appears that the one thing it won't bring us is exciting and big-time trades that shift the balance of power throughout the NBA.

After the trade deadline passes, we'll still have the big three in Miami, the dynamic duo in Oklahoma City and the bench mob in Chicago, which means the best teams in the NBA right now will be the best teams in the NBA well past the March 15 NBA trade deadline.

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