NBA Rumors: Impending Free Agency Spells Terrible News for Magic and Hornets

The NBA lockout is finally over, but the end of the lockout signals the beginning of a very long-feeling shortened season for teams like the Orlando Magic and New Orleans Hornets.

It's never too early to starting thinking about the future, and these two franchises may be facing an inevitable future without their superstars and biggest draws: Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.

While fans of the NBA as a whole are undoubtedly happy that the owners and players were finally able to get something done in time to salvage a season, there will be some fans who see this as a reality check.

Howard and Paul are both still signed with their teams, but the eventual start of another NBA season brings them closer and closer to impending free agency.

That's a thought that has to be terrible for fans of these two teams to stomach, especially with all the potential trade talk and rumors that were swirling around these guys last season.

To make things worse, the NBA owners were apparently very aware of their plight during the lockout negotiations, but according to Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com, they dropped their stance on what would have been known as the 'Carmelo Anthony Rule':

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"Owners dropped their insistence on what would have been known as the Carmelo Anthony rule, preventing teams from executing extend-and-trade deals similar to the one that sent Anthony from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks last season. This means that if Dwight Howard, Deron Williams and Chris Paul want to leverage their way out of Orlando, New Jersey and New Orleans, they will still be eligible to sign four-year extensions with their current teams before being immediately traded elsewhere."

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What this means is that big-time players like Paul or Howard can essentially force their teams into a sign-and-trade to the team of their choosing, or make them face the reality of losing them in free agency for nothing.

We saw players hamstring organizations before with the power of free agency, and apparently that is going to be something that will remain commonplace in the new NBA.

The only question now is whether or not these players will exercise their power over the franchise and fanbase.

If the whole free agency fiasco of last season that saw LeBron James take his talents to South Beach brings any lesson, it's the fact that there is no loyalty to team or city.

These players will go where they feel they have the best chance to earn a paycheck, endorsements and basketball games.

It doesn't matter if they have to force a team into trading them, or give an hour-long television special on their decision.

Fans of the Magic and Hornets may be facing the start of a very long and dramatic shortened season.