NBA Trade Speculation: 5 Teams in Danger of Facing a Carmelo Anthony Fiasco

With Carmelo Anthony forcing a trade to the New York Knicks and Deron Williams doing the same to get to the New Jersey Nets, the two players have made it pretty obvious that most superstars will put up with only so much much before becoming frustrated with the direction of their team.

Both players had advanced to the Conference Finals with their formers teams before getting traded. Making it that far didn't ease their mindset anymore than if they hadn't made it all as the two players were more focused on going title chasing than their stats. Since there was no clear indication that the organizations were going to do anything to improve, the two players decided it would be best to take their talents elsewhere.

It's not like Anthony and Williams are the only superstars that left their team for those reasons either. Vince Carter with Toronto and LeBron James with Cleveland are two prime examples of players getting frustrated with the direction of their organization and solving the problem by joining a team that's ready for a title.

The five teams I'm about to announce are also facing the high possibility that one or two of their star players might depart for another franchise with a brighter future. The organizations listed are going to need to either get some pieces around their star player or else face the consequences of having a team that looks drastically different without their superstar leading the way.

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Orlando Magic

In the NBA, there is no bigger advantage you could possess than having a center that could catch and finish on offense, play strong individual defense and block shots at a prolific rate. Players of this caliber were prevalent in the 1990's when the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing were dominating the paint, but it seems that post moves and strong post defense have become a lost art as the centers of today now find themselves further and further away from the post.

Cue Dwight Howard. A 6'11", 265-pound behemoth composed of solid muscle that not one individual player could defend in the post. Since being drafted in 2004, Howard has consistently dominated the paint with his athleticism and bullish style of play. He doesn't have much of an offensive game outside of 10 feet, but his athleticism has carried him and his Orlando Magic to an NBA Finals appearance and a number of postseasons as well.

In fact, the sole reason why the Magic have had their most successful stretch in franchise history is because of Howard's influence in the post. With so few centers that could defend him without fouling, Howard is one of the most unstoppable figures playing in the NBA today. He's too strong for only one player to defend him and it leads to opposing defenses needing multiple defenders to guard him which then opens up more shooting opportunities for his teammates to thrive on.

It hurts enough that the Magic would lose the player that frees up the team for so many scoring opportunities, but losing Dwight in general would turn the team into a cellar dweller immediately. He's the defensive anchor in the interior, the leader on both sides of the ball and the most dominant force in the NBA considering that it takes two players just to keep him from where he wants to be on offense.

Oh and he's also developing a bank shot and a hook shot thanks to Hakeem Olajuwon. The Magic organization will need to make some serious moves if they want to keep Howard happy in Orlando.

Phoenix Suns

Just look at Steve Nash. He's just looking for a way out of Phoenix considering that the team actually attempted to make Hakim Warrick into the next Amar'e Stoudemire.

It was horrible enough for the Suns franchise to lose out on Stoudemire after coming so close to the Finals for the past five seasons and it's only appearing to look worse now that Nash is on the borderline of either retiring or ring chasing. He'll be on the borderline of 38 years old at the start of next season and there might not be a player in the league today more deserving of a championship than the two-time MVP.

It would be surprising to see Nash end his career on a team with no intention of advancing to the Finals and the Phoenix Suns have made the effort to surround the point guard with a roster capable of advancing into the postseason in a stacked Western Conference. At 40-42 last season, the Suns finished 10th in the West and failed to make the playoffs for the second time in the past three years.

Currently, Nash's main running mates are Grant Hill, Channing Frye and the recently acquired Marcin Gortat. Hill is on the borderline of retiring and could be ring chasing in Miami soon, Frye is a three-point shooter who doesn't know the definition of defense and Gortat was a surprise last year as he complemented Nash very well when it came to running the pick and roll to perfection.

Trouble is that Marcin Gortat isn't going to get the job done. Trading away Shawn Marion started this free for all and losing Amar'e Stoudemire in free agency last year completed it. Steve Nash may be the league's top offensive facilitator and has made All-Stars out of the most unlikely of candidates, but even he cannot work a miracle with the current roster surrounding him.

Nash is in the twilight of his career, but is still performing well enough to lead a team to a championship. If the Suns aren't ready to give Nash his Amar'e Stoudemire or Shawn Marion, then he could be leading a different team to a title game.

New Orleans Hornets

If any team is going to suffer the most without their All-Star, there's no doubt that it's going to be the New Orleans Hornets if they lose out on point guard Chris Paul.

And I wouldn't blame CP3 for leaving either. He's been there since 2005 and the best the team has given him since being drafted was defensive specialist Trevor Ariza and double-double machine Emeka Okafor. Neither of these players have made much of an impact and they're certainly not the answers that Paul wanted when attempting to contend for a championship.

Despite being regarded as the league's top point guard, Paul hasn't been as far as the semifinals before bowing out. He's only made it to three postseasons with the Hornets and was ousted in the first round in two of the past three seasons with no clear indication from the franchise that they're looking to surround him with any bit of talent that's going to help him contend.

Paul's influence on this Hornets franchise is monumental to say the least. He's regarded as the league's best point guard because of his ability to facilitate an offense, court awareness, consistent shooting from anywhere on the court, defense and being involved in just about every aspect of the game. Whether it's scoring, rebounding or passing, Paul will have something to do with it and that's the type of player that no team wants to lose.

In fact, the Hornets' best season came in 2008 when he led them to their first division title and a franchise high 56 wins. Paul finished second in MVP voting that year as he led the Hornets to the first semifinals appearance since 2002 with a starting lineup composed of David West, Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler and Morris Peterson.

That's right, Morris Peterson and Peja Stojakovic were starters on a team that won 56 games and a division.

If the Hornets want to prove that they're adamant in making a championship, they'll need to either re-sign David West over the offseason or re-sign him and then trade him for more valuable pieces. Otherwise,, Paul is as good as gone and hopping on a team that's actually focused on making title runs and not living in obscurity.

Losing Paul would put the Hornets in the Southwest division basement for an extremely long time. With Memphis and Houston developing and San Antonio and Dallas still reigning supreme at the top, the Hornets are going to be lost without their heart and soul.

Toronto Raptors

This can't happen again, can it? Could the Toronto Raptors organization seriously allow another potential All-Star to depart once the going got tough and the franchise failed to pick anyone up?

It happened with Vince Carter in the beginning when the team failed to obtain Steve Nash and Jamaal Magloire, it happened again with Chris Bosh when the team didn't even make an attempt to surround him with talent, and now DeMar DeRozan could be the next departure if the organization doesn't learn from its past mistakes.

It's a little too early to speak of DeRozan being the center of this team. Andrea Bargnani didn't just average a career high in points per game last season, but the Raptors are going to need to invest in their soon to be third-year shooting guard if they want to amount to any sort of success in the future. DeRozan is coming off of a solid sophomore season with the Raptors where he averaged 17 points per game and truly put his athleticism and overall game on display for the first time.

DeRozan's overall game is developing and he still needs to create a consistent jump shot, but his upside and potential is off the roof and the Raptors would be wise to start investing in his stock by surrounding him with a quality roster. Toronto currently has Bargnani and Jose Calderon as its top players next to DeRozan with the possibility that Ed Davis and recent draft pick Jonas Valanciunas could bring this team out of the basement of the Atlantic division.

It wouldn't hurt to start developing now either since the Boston Celtics could be on the decline with the rest of the division. Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York are all set to become perennial postseason contenders and I'm positive that the Raptors don't want to miss out on the fun by losing out on DeRozan because they couldn't arrange a solid roster.

Starting now, the Raptors are going to need to develop a solid bench. With the likes of Leandro Barbosa and James Johnson as their top contributors off the bench, the team's going to need to better than that if they want to keep DeRozan around and make a few postseasons again.

Atlanta Hawks

You have $120 million wrapped up in a borderline All-Star and your teams' peak is reaching the second round.

If you were Al Horford or Josh Smith, what would you do? Continue developing and refining your game with the Atlanta Hawks or taking your talents elsewhere on a team that has a chance to make a championship and doesn't spend an absurd amount of money on a player who has failed to advance past the semifinals as a team leader?

The trio of Joe Johnson, Al Horford and Josh Smith have already turned the franchise around into one of the most successful after four consecutive postseason appearances and their highest winning total since 1997 when they won 53 games in 2010. With Johnson manning the perimeter, Smith utilizing his athleticism to drive and Horford dominating the post and mid-range, the Hawks are an extremely dangerous team on both sides of the ball thanks to the big three that they have brought together.

But how far can this team honestly get in a conference with the Miami Heat, New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls all set to begin dominating the East as soon as next season? Even though the Boston Celtics, and possibly the Orlando Magic if they lose Dwight Howard, are set to decline, the Hawks have developing teams in the Knicks, New Jersey Nets and Washington Wizards to begin worrying about while they continue to stand pat with their Big Three.

Not to mention that sixth man Jamal Crawford is a free agent and will be heavily pursued by a number of teams that are willing to shell out the money for the sharpshooter. Crawford has added a lot to this team from the perimeter and losing him would only convince Smith and Horford to depart for teams with a championship on their mind.

Horford would have to force a trade if he wants to leave since he's signed up until 2016, but Smith's contract is up in 2013 and his departure wouldn't be a surprise if the team doesn't make any signs of improvement aside from being second round fodder.