It looks like this “Dwightmare” (corny I know, deal with it) seems to finally be over. Dwight Howard is about to join the list of Hall of Fame big men that have worn the Los Angeles Lakers uniform. He will join superstar Kobe Bryant, a dominant passer in Steve Nash, champion big man Pau Gasol and mental case but a top defender in Ron Artest.

The four-team trade looks to be this:

Lakers receive: Dwight Howard who won’t sign an extension

76ers receive: Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson

Nuggets receive: Andre Iguodala

Magic receive: Arron Affalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, a first-round pick from all three teams, and 76ers first round pick Moe Harkless out of St. John’s.

I really think this is a fair trade for all four teams. The Lakers get the best big man in the game. He is a monster on the defensive side of the ball and with Steve Nash; his potential on offense can be even more dominant. The 76ers give up their All-Star and current first round pick, but get arguably the 2^nd best big man in the game and a consistent scorer and rebounder, something they desperately needed. The Nuggets finally get a big name and with Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, JaVale McGee, and Ty Lawson, the Nuggets have improved their team. The Magic lost their headache and gain a scorer in Affalo and youth and upside with Vuecvic and Harkless.

This was an obvious win right now move for the Lakers who look to get Kobe his sixth ring and more. You really can’t ask for a better offseason if you are a Laker fan in adding Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. A Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder Western Conference finals would be must watch TV. A Lakers-Heat and Kobe vs. LeBron NBA Finals would be historic.

Let’s just pray Dwight likes LA and doesn’t do this all over again next year. Hollywood, championship rings, life on the beach, and the world’s most beautiful woman. Dwight if you don’t like that we can easily switch lives if you want.

PS:  I call dibs on the Lakers in 2K13.

Could this trio still unite in New York? And who else should be on our radar? (Source: jockpost.com)

The New York Knicks should pursue some of these possible free agents and trade targets on teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia Sixers, writes Joshua Sage:

The Knicks continue to surge, led by the stellar play of Amar’e Stoudemire, while the Blazers, Hornets and 76ers all continue to stumble. To the joy of Knicks fans everywhere, the Houston Rockets have also played poorly this season [Editor's Note: this is particularly good because in the Tmac trade we gave Houston the right to swap 2011 draft picks if they want.  So since they'll likely have a worse record, we won't have to give 'em nuthin' this summer]. If these trends continue, come time for the trade deadline, the records of all these teams could affect the futures of several quality players around the NBA.

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Yesterday Team USA won gold at the World Championship, and if you don't think that's impressive or surprising, you couldn't be more wrong. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

The reaction from many friends when I’ve mentioned the US won the World Championship Sunday has ranged from “What is it?  I didn’t even know it was going on?” to “Big whoop.”  Even though less knowledgeable (or more blindly patriotic) people assumed of course we should win, that was far from fact heading into this thing.  Many didn’t even consider us the favorite.  So for the less-obsessed hoops fan out there, let’s go over the seven key points that made this victory so dang impressive and surprising:

1) We hadn’t won the World Championship in 16 years, and for the rest of the world the World Championship is a bigger deal than the Olympics.

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Is it just me or have the Knicks looked a little different lately?

With the Knicks racking two wins in a row, rumors have really rapidly run rather rampantly.  Is it true that the players’ life-forms have been inhabited by aliens?  How else do you explain wins over a top team like Atlanta, ending Dallas’ 13 game winning streak in a blow-out, and not playing down to Philadelphia’s level last night and losing like we like to do?  We here at Buckets Over Broadway are not afraid to plunge into such hard-hitting journalistic investigations to uncover the truth for you.  Are these the same Knick players we’ve known all year?  Or are they hosts to a possibly hostile race of space creatures who’ve come to slowly yet surely destroy any sense of logic in our world, thus creating chaos, leaving us unable to know up from down, and easy pickings for interplanetary conquest?  At this point, either seems feasible.  Let’s compare what clues point towards being a Knick versus an Alien:

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With a few of them likely to sit out this summer so they don’t injure themselves before they get a new contract (in other words the guys the Knicks would chase after: LeBron, Wade, Bosh, plus A’mare Stoudamire who made the pool too), it does provide some openings.  Not to mention that say a banged up Kobe might need to take the summer off to get his body healthy again.  Of course, included in those free agents-to-be are none other than David Lee, so he himself might have to bow out.  Oh, and another thing in Lee’s favor is that once again the Knicks’ coach Mike D’Antoni will be one of the assistant coaches on the USA team.  It’s always nice having someone on the inside to help plead your case.

Anyway, the remaining invitees include the Denver Nuggets’ Chauncey Billups, LA Lakers’ Lamar Odom, plus a who’s-who of all the young and upcoming players in the NBA according to ESPN: the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant (pretty much a lock to make the final roster since he almost made it last time and he’s only gotten better), Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose,

Minnesota‘s Al Jefferson and Kevin Love; Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo of Memphis; Philadelphia‘s Andre Iguodala; Boston‘s Kendrick Perkins; Indiana‘s Danny Granger; New York‘s David Lee; New Jersey center Brook Lopez; Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook; Portland‘s LaMarcus Aldridge; Charlotte‘s Gerald Wallace; and Clippers guard Eric Gordon.

The Americans will choose a group from the roster to take part in their minicamp in Las Vegas in July. They are expected to play an exhibition game in New York before heading to Turkey for the world championships, which they haven’t won since 1994.