Trade Rumors Abound For Paul and Howard

To all the sports writers who cover the NBA and were struggling to find entertaining stories over the course of the lockout, you have been rewarded for toughing it out. There is so much activity going on around the league right now, and it will only escalate once teams are officially able to sign off on deals. Nothing is certain right now, except there will be plenty of work for moving companies within the next week.

With all the talk and rumors going on, I decided to break it down into groups and discuss a few of the possible destinations for the two biggest options available.

Chris Paul

New York Knicks

Paul made a toast at Carmelo Anthony's wedding last year where he said he was looking to form a super team like the one his good friends LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade did out in South Beach. Paul's group would be Anthony and Amare Stoudemire in the Big Apple. At that point, only Stoudemire was actually on the Knicks and then Anthony made his way on the team after months of denying any trade rumors. This season, Paul is facing that same situation with his free agency looming at the end of the season. While Paul would love to play in New York, the New Orleans Hornets aren't interested in the players that the Knicks have to offer.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers have trade assets in Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Metta World Peace (the player formerly known as Ron Artest). A team with Kobe Bryant and a few of the other players that wouldn't be involved in the trade has to be intriguing to any player. Living and playing on the big stage and bright lights of Los Angeles is a nice perk, also. But the Lakers are not the only team in L.A...

Los Angeles Clippers

Blake Griffin took the NBA by storm last season delivering highlight dunk after highlight dunk. His play sent shockwaves around the league and he is surrounded by a talented group of young athletes looking to take the next step in their development. Paul throwing alley-oops to Griffin would be a scary thought for the rest of the league, especially the Lakers, who share their home-court with the Clippers. The Clippers and Lakers are both also after...

Dwight Howard

Los Angeles Clippers

The same way the Clippers would look to pick up Paul, they intend to pursue Howard. The idea of trading young players and draft picks has to be considered by Otis Smith, the general manager of the Orlando Magic. Howard will be a free agent this summer and if he decides to leave the Magic, they will get nothing in return and lose one of the most dominate players in the game. The fans there are having flashbacks to when they lost a young man named Shaquille O'Neal. Once again, the hometown rivals have something to say about that...

Los Angeles Lakers

Rumors have been spreading like wildfire over the last few days about Howard, Paul, and Kobe joining forces out in L.A. to make a title run. Once again, the Lakers do have the players that could potentially be used in a trade to bring both players to L.A.

I'm not sure if Paul or Howard will be traded this season, but I know that by next year, both of them will be on new teams.