NBA Free Agency/Trading Frenzy Tips Off: Allen, Howard and Williams The Hot Topics

Let the madness begin. Rumors of Ray Allen being heavily pursued by the Miami Heat were being tossed around right after Game 5 of the NBA Finals ended.

The 36-year-old guard missed 20 games last season due to injury, while averaging 14.2 points and 1.1 steals. Allen also only coughed up the ball 1.5 times per game, tying a career low. He also shot a career-best 45.3 percent from three and 91.5 percent from the charity stripe. The Heat plan on offering Allen a $3 million exception, but the main attraction is giving Allen another chance to win an NBA title with the defending champions. The Celtics, however, will still be able to offer Allen the highest possible price. The odds that the Celtics are going to resign Allen are very slim, and he will most likely land with the Heat, Phoenix Suns or New York Knicks. The Memphis Grizzlies also plan to offer Allen its full mid-level exception worth $5 million.

The Celtics already kept together the second piece of the Big Three by signing Kevin Garnett to a three-year, $34 million deal on Saturday. As long as Garnett still has gas left in the tank, you will still see him on the basketball court. I love this move because it gives the No. 21 pick Jared Sullinger some time to learn from Garnett and to rest his banged-up body. With forwards Brandon Bass and Jeff Green now free agents, signing Garnett to a multi-year deal was a critical and smart move by the Celtics.

Brandon Roy, who retired from the NBA due to knee injuries, underwent a platelet-rich plasma therapy and is now planning on making a comeback to basketball. The front runners to land the 27-year-old two guard include the Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota met with Roy on Saturday, noting that they like their chances of landing him. I’m glad that Roy is attempting to make a comeback, as it seemed the whole NBA community was saddened when the former Trail Blazer announced his retirement before the 2011-12 season. Roy has lifetime averages of 19.0 points, 4.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds. Taking the risk to sign the unretired guard will be very rewarding for whatever team ends up with him.

A trade that has already been completed sent Lamar Odom of the Dallas Mavericks to his old stomping ground in Los Angeles with the Clippers. The trade was between four teams, with the Utah Jazz acquiring Mo Williams of the Clippers and Shan Foster of the Mavericks, Houston Rockets receiving Furkan Aldemir of the Clippers and the Mavericks receiving Tadija Dragicevic from the Jazz and cash considerations from the Rockets. Odom can be a very frustrating player at times, but if put in the right situation with the right players as he was in the first 12 seasons of his career. Utah also gains a solid player in Williams, who started his career with the Jazz. Williams played 74 games with the Clippers, averaging 13.8 points and 3.8 assists while in Los Angeles.

After the Memphis Grizzlies didn’t extend their qualifying offer to guard O.J. Mayo, making him an unrestricted free agent. It is very unlikely that Mayo will return to the Memphis, where he averaged 15.2 points in his four seasons as a Grizzly. According to sources, the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers are interesting in pursuing the talented two guard.

The two-time MVP and eight-year captain of the Phoenix Suns could pretty soon be heading out the door, with recently-drafted point guard Kendall Marshall showing him the way out. Nash, who proposed a three-year deal to the Suns,will most likely be heading to another team as the Suns do not want to retain Nash for that amount of time. The All-Star point guard could be heading to teams such as the Suns, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Indians Pacers and Brooklyn Nets or even the Toronto Raptors. It would be pretty neat if the Canadian baller could end up playing in his home country, but Nash’s heart will always be with the Suns, who he thought he would play out the remaining of his career with. It is also rumored that the Knicks are interested in landing point guard Jason Kidd, but will focus on signing free agents Jeremy Lin, Steve Novak, J.R. Smith and Landry Fields.

Some more Clippers news: the two Los Angeles stars were offered extensions in their contracts in the past couple days. One would agree with the terms and the other would turn down the deal. Blake Griffin, who is under contract until the end of next season, came to agreement with a five-year, $95 million extension while Chris Paul will wait until the end of next season to decide where he will play. The three-year, $60 million extension offered to Paul was just not the right asking price for the point guard. He will most likely wait until the summer of 2013 to sign a huge contract with the Clippers. BREAKING: Griffin may not have accepted deal yet.

Possibly the most coveted free agent on the market this year, Deron Williams has made it clear that he will decided between playing for the Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets. It’s also rumored that if D-Will ends up back with the Nets, Jason Kidd will be joining him as well. Williams will meet with both parties on Monday before making his decision. Although he didn’t shoot the ball very well, Williams still had a very productive season, averaging 21.0 points and 8.7 assists. Like most experts I also believe that Williams is the big fish to catch in the 2012 free agency pond, but him limiting his catcher to two teams takes most of the fun away.

Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon could be joining the Los Angeles Lakers, if they so decide to retain Pau Gasol. This deal will only go down if the Raptors decide to go after Steve Nash, who they are planning to offer a three-year, $36 million offer. To maximize their cap room, the Raptors will have to amnesty Calderon. Along with the Lakers, the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs are also pursuing Calderon, who has said that he would also like to land where Luis Scola ends up.

Pau Gasol of the Los Angels Lakers, Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks and Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets are the talks of the trade market right now. But nothing has caused as much of a stir concerning trade talk than Dwight Howard demanding a trade to the Brooklyn Nets. On Friday Howard met with new Orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan, and told him how he wanted to be traded. During the talks Hennigan agreed to nothing, and Howard complained how he wanted his opt-in eliminated because he feel the organization “blackmailed” him. Howard has always wanted to go to Brooklyn, a team that has been making trade proposals like crazy. BREAKING: The Magic started to reach out to teams Saturday to discuss trade proposals for Howard.

Eric Gordon is on the move. The former Hornet wants at least a four-year, $58 million deal, and will be visiting the Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns in consecutive days starting Sunday.

Hope you enjoyed this extensive breakdown of the major trade talk/free agency news in the NBA. Will Dwight Howard be traded to the Brooklyn Nets? Will Deron Williams join Superman in Brooklyn? Will Brandon Roy work out? Will Steve Nash play for his native country? All of this will be figured out in the coming hours, hopefully sooner than later.