You would have to throw the Los Angeles Lakers right behind the Heat as second in the food chain with their additions of Steve Nash and Howard.  Moving Andrew Bynum helps them immensely, but also helps Philadelphia, who I think if they can get their act together could be a tough team in the Eastern Conference.

But we can’t forget the Oklahoma City Thunder, who didn’t make much noise this offseason, and probably didn’t need to.  They have their core group of players coming back, which was helped with resigning James Harden, last year’s Sixth Man of the Year.  Kevin Durant still has room to grow.  Russell Westbrook can continue to improve his point guard skills.

I’d throw the Indiana Pacers up towards the top there as well.  Even though they might not seem like a powerhouse team, they are bringing back the same team who fought hard with Miami.  Their bench might improve a bit with DJ Augustin and Gerald Green, who looks to be right after being away from the game.  They could be consistent with their team as well since they have their group of core players signed for a few more years.

Who could forget San Antonio that always seems to be around the top?  The Chicago Bulls could still be deadly, even without Derrick Rose.  They would probably need him back if they want to challenge the Heat in the playoffs though.  We saw what happened last season when they were without Rose.

To me, those are you top teams of the whole NBA.  If I had a power ranking, it would go like this: Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls.

Who are your top teams, and who do you think is the favorite to win it all?

*- Magic also will receive a protected first-round pick from each of the other three teams and five overall draft picks

There we go with the handy dandy chart making sense of the Dwight Howard trade.  I know along with everyone else, this is good to be done and over with.  I’m getting tired of athletes stating they don’t want to play here or there, and not playing out a contract.  In my job, can I demand a trade to another school and ask for more money? No, but I understand it’s completely different worlds, but at least wanted to get that rant out of the way.

Looking at the pieces involved, I still think the Sixers got the better part of this deal.  I wrote up yesterday how Andrew Bynum can really improve that Sixers team.  If they can get things all straightened out, that could be a team that’s a tough out come playoff time. Who knows if they can contend in the next few years with Miami being as strong as they are, but still they should be a better team.

Obviously, the Lakers get a good piece in Dwight Howard, and they are going to be tough to beat in the Western Conference.  Perhaps the Oklahoma City Thunder are still the team to beat thanks to their young core group of players.  They have two of the top players right now in Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.  Westbrook on just about any other team is the star player.  We all know how good Durant is.  Throw in the emergence of James Harden and Serge Ibaka, that’s a tough team.

I’m interested to see how Howard will play up to the pressure of Los Angeles.  There will be the talk about what he can be legacy wise to the great Los Angeles Lakers’ centers, like Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdual Jabaar.  That’s a tough billing to live up to.  Plus the scrutiny of a losing streak if that happens in Los Angeles.  Or if Howard gets injured like last season, which killed whatever shot the Magic had in the playoffs.  He doesn’t seem like the type of guy that likes the pressure and competitive nature of the game.  Rather, he wants to go out and have fun, but make an impact anyways.

The Magic end up with some players, who might make some small impact, but more importantly get rid of the baggage that was happening with Dwight Howard.  They’ll probably be in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference as their roster is pretty thin, and there’s no names that jump out at you.

The Nuggets end up with AI, not Allen Iverson, but Andre Iguodala, who should make some noise with that team. The Nuggets put together a good team last year, and he should be another good piece to the puzzle.

All in all, this had to happen.  We were all tired of the saga of this, and I am sure we’re all excited for who’s next to complain about what team they are on.