NBA Rumors: Teams on the Verge of a Franchise-Altering Change

With the offseason actually underway—as at least now agents are officially allowed to talk to teams, but not talk deals (wink!)—there will be actual rumors to discuss in the next two weeks.

Two weeks from now there are five teams that could be essentially different, with a different outlook than they have now. Certainly every one of these teams will have a franchise-altering deal before the trade deadline, for better or for worse. 

New Jersey Nets

Under their second-year owner Mikhail Prokhorov, the Nets look to be a major player. They will be making a key acquisition before the trade deadline.

People need to take note. The Russian Mark Cuban is a serious player. 

Rumors are he's set his eyes on Dwight Howard. Landing Deron Williams (who is actually a better player than Carmelo Anthony by the way) with almost no one even knowing was a possibility was the coup of last year's trade deadline.

Adding Howard would assure the Nets of keeping both Howard and Williams and making New Jersey a contender for the next five years. 

Orlando Magic

Orlando will be on the other end of that deal. They have a big problem: Dwight Howard is not merely the most important player on the team; basically he is the team.

Essentially the entire scheme of the Magic, both offensively and defensively, revolves around the hands-down best center in the NBA. 

What are they gong to get from anyone that replaces him? Andrew Bynum? He of the glass knees? Brook "What's a Rebound" Lopez? Brooke Shields would grab more boards.

Orlando is destined to see a tragic, fall-off-the-cliff, cataclysmic, 2012-type event in the next six months. 

The good news is that it's better to be horrible than average in today's NBA.

There is one slight possibility that would still be franchise-altering, but in the other direction. They could pull of the coup of the year and land Chris Paul.  

New Orleans Hornets

The Hornets are in the same boat as Orlando, but probably even worse. Already the team is in financial trouble and had to be taken over by the NBA. Now they will be losing two of their best players ever in David West and, oh yeah, Chris Paul. 

Reports are that the Hornets want to avoid what Denver did last year and trade off Paul before the season starts. 

This might not just have a franchise-altering effect; it could have a franchise-ending effect. At the very least it will probably end the franchise's future in the Big Easy. 

And Seattle stood up and cheered. 

Houston Rockets

Houston was the team that missed the playoffs last year that had the most Pythagorean wins. They are so close to being a contender, and they don't need to add Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Dwight Howard to be a contender in the West.

They only need Nene Hilario. 

Look for the Rockets to land the big Brazilian and launch themselves into contender status. 

Boston Celtics

Boston is reportedly shopping around Rajon Rondo according to multiple sources, according to ESPN Boston. That they are looking this early to shop their starting point guard and key facilitator indicates where they stand on this season.

They are looking to enter the Chris Paul sweeps and they are willing to dramatically change their franchise to do so.