7 NBA Teams That Must Pursue a Blockbuster Trade Before Season Begins

With the Summer Olympics ramping up in London and most free agents signed, sealed and delivered, this is usually a period where the NBA offseason winds down.

But with so many rumors swirling around the Association, the 2012 offseason has all the rumblings of an unexpected August trade boon. 

Which teams are still likely to pull the trigger on a blockbuster deal? Follow along for a look at seven NBA franchises that could make a big move before the 2012-13 season begins.

Toronto Raptors

Player the Raptors Must Trade: Jose Calderon

The Raptors' acquisition of Kyle Lowry from the Houston Rockets this offseason effectively put an end to Calderon's five-year run as the Toronto starting point guard.

And according to a report from ESPNDallas.com, Calderon hoped that the trade would also bring his time in Toronto to a close, period.

But a trade with the Dallas Mavericks fell through when the Mavs acquired Darren Collison and the Raptors chose to not amnesty the 30-year-old point guard's $10.5 million salary for next season.

With very few teams in a position to add that much salary, the market has seemingly dried up for Calderon.

Regardless, if there is anything we have learned over the past couple of years, it's that there is no quicker way to submarine a season than keeping an unhappy player. Toronto needs to trade Calderon for whatever the team can get and move on.

Philadelphia 76ers

Player the Sixers Must Trade: Andre Iguodala

The folks at CSNPhilly.com are reporting that an Iguodala deal "won't happen" during the offseason.

That may be true, but it doesn't mean they're making the correct decision.

Iguodala has played well for the Team USA Olympic team in London thus far, establishing himself as the team's second-best perimeter defender. If Iguodala keeps it up and plays a vital role for the Americans, his trade value will never be any higher than it is at the end of the Summer Games.

With the 28-year-old small forward being older than most of the Sixers' young core and a point of roster redundancy, it would make sense for general manager Rod Thorn to move now.

Thorn could recoup one or two young players and draft picks if he wants to start a rebuilding process. Or if he wants to compete now, Thorn could make a massive splash and try to engage the Memphis Grizzlies in talks for Rudy Gay.

Either way, it's best for both the Sixers and Iguodala to move on.

Sacramento Kings

Player(s) the Kings Must Trade: Jimmer Fredette, Tyreke Evans

A little more than three years after making Evans the No. 4 pick in the 2009 NBA draft and a little over a year after drafting Fredette No. 10 overall in 2011, it seems that one or both are on their way out of Sacramento.

And according to Hoopsworld's Steve Kyler, that may be exactly what both young guards want.

Fredette is frustrated that the Kings acquired Aaron Brooks, a player who mirrors the BYU guard's skill-set and will likely usurp valuable minutes.

Evans is equally disappointed by Sacramento's continuous acquisition of guard talent. The abundance backcourt depth leaves the 22-year-old Evans stuck playing out of position at small forward.

Without a swift offseason move, both players will likely lose their trade value, leaving the Kings with nothing to show for two of the past four drafts.

Orlando Magic

Player(s) the Magic Need to Trade: Dwight Howard, Jason Richardson, Glen Davis, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Duhon

At this point, the Magic need to make a Howard trade happen as badly as we want the saga to finally end.

Howard and his agent have made it clear every step of the way that Orlando has no chance of retaining the center and that he wants to be moved this offseason.

For the Magic, it shouldn't matter where Howard goes; just that he does. If Howard heads to the Lakers, we'll have witnessed the longest stretching of inevitability in world history.

Or even if the Lakers pull out, leaving Orlando to straddle D12 with a season in Houston, so be it.

Orlando needs to get something in return and start the rebuilding process now. Any further procrastination will continue to expose general manager Rob Hennigan as even more overwhelmed than he already looks.

Los Angeles Lakers

Player the Lakers Must Trade: Andrew Bynum

The most underrated aspect of the Dwight Howard trade saga is that the Lakers have essentially hung Bynum out to dry.

After years of staunchly holding onto the center, Lakers brass has spent the offseason telling Bynum that they would rather have Dwight Howard via the rumor mill.

And granted, Howard is a better player than Bynum. But the gap between the two shrank so much last season that some pundits even prefer Bynum's offensive polish to D12's athletic wizardry.

But the Lakers may have burned a bridge at this point.

The incumbent center, like Howard, is a free agent at the end of next season and won't have any shortage of suitors. Bynum also won't be happy with the Lakers' switch to the Princeton offense, where he'll likely become the offensive third wheel again.

So in as much as the Lakers need to trade Bynum for Howard for basketball reasons, they also need to make the move to avoid an unhappy center torpedoing their season.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Player(s) the Cavaliers Must Trade: Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson (?), Dion Waiters (?)

If the oft-rumored (and first reported by ESPN's Ric Bucher) three-way deal between the Cavs, Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic is still on the table, then Cleveland has to do everything in its power to get the deal done.

In the proposed deal, the Cavs would send Varejao and other assorted parts to the Magic for Lakers center Andrew Bynum, who would net the Lakers Dwight Howard.

For Cleveland, this deal is a no-brainer. The team would acquire the second-best center in the NBA while only giving up a 29-year-old power forward and recent draftees who will likely never reach Bynum's level.

That means if the trade talks expand to include Thompson or Waiters, the Cavs still need to pull the trigger. Franchise-altering centers don't just fall into a franchise's lap every day.

Houston Rockets

Player(s) the Rockets Must Trade: Kevin Martin, Patrick Patterson (?), Jeremy Lamb (?), Royce White (?), Terrence Jones (?)

It doesn't matter what combination of players Houston needs to usurp Cleveland as the most likely partner in a three-way Howard/Bynum deal.

As it stands, the Rockets should be the favorite anyway. 

Even after signing Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik to three-year, $25.1 million deals, the Rockets still have more than $10 million in salary cap space. They also have Martin's expiring deal and a boatload of young assets to ship to Orlando.

But none of those assets are even worth hesitating in regards to a possible Bynum deal.

And if Rockets land the 24-year-old center, they will somehow come out as winners in an offseason that made general manager Daryl Morey look incompetent.