There was a lack of discussion on this trade on Golden State of Mind so this post here is to fill the void while discussing parity in the NBA.

We just saw a really competitive team (AND much hated team to Warrior fans) stack up their team even more with (little doubt) the best center in the league in Dwight Howard.

The way the Lakers added Dwight Howard and Steve Nash... makes tanking (LIKE A BOSS I may add) to get Harrison Barnes and trading to FINALLY get a legit center like Andrew Bogut seem so trivial. Remember these moves by the DUBS was the subject of MUCH excitement on this blog in the past year.

After the jump, I'll discuss the lack of parity in the league and where that leaves us. But first I want to hear from everybody their thoughts on the trade fully fledged out.

As a reminder, here are the pending details of the 4 team mega-trade:

Lakers:

Receive: Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, Earl Clark (from Magic)

Give up: Andrew Bynum (to 76ers); Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga, protected first-round pick in 2017, conditional second-round pick in 2015 (to Magic)

Nuggets:

Receive: Andre Iguodala (from Sixers)

Give up: Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, first-round pick in 2014, second-round pick in 2013 (to Magic)

I mention these teams first because they are both in the Western Conference and affect the Warriors more.

Magic:

Receive: Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, first-round pick in 2014, second-round pick in 2013 (from Nuggets); Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, conditional first-round pick (from 76ers); Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga, protected first-round pick in 2017, conditional second-round pick in 2015 (from Lakers)

Give up: Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, Earl Clark (to Lakers); Jason Richardson (to 76ers)

76ers:

Receive: Andrew Bynum (from Lakers); Jason Richardson (from Magic)

Give up: Andre Iguodala (to Nuggets); Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, conditional first-round pick (to Magic)

Discuss!!! (Parity talk after the jump)

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Just so we're clear... this is the basketball lineup for the Lakers that results:

1. Steve Nash
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Metta World Peace
4. Pau Gasol
5. Dwight Howard

Bench: Antawn Jamison, Jordan Hill, Earl Clark, Steve Blake, Chris Duhon

And here is the lineup of the Miami Heat:

1. Mario Chalmers
2. Dwayne Wade
3. Lebron James
4. Shane Battier
5. Chris Bosh

Bench: Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, etc.

Here is the lineup of the Golden State Warriors:

1. Stephen Curry
2. Klay Thompson
3. Harrison Barnes
4. David Lee
5. Andrew Bogut

Bench: Draymond Green, Andris Biedrins, Brandon Rush, Festus Ezeli, Charles Jenkins, Carl Landry, Jarrett Jack

Looking at these lineups, realistically I don't think the Warriors can even consider the NBA Championship even a possibility. The West is completely stacked and even then not many teams stand a chance of winning rings this year outside of OKC, the Lakers, the Heat, and possibility the Spurs (long shot).

Why do I bring this up? There is an immense lack of parity in the NBA where to the casual basketball fan, no teams matter except the LA Lakers, OKC Thunder, and Miami Heat. It is because barring injury, no other teams really have a shot of winning the championship. Sure, if you are in the Bay, you may still pay attention rabidly, but our only REALISTIC goal is to finally make the playoffs consistently... NOT win our first championship in over 35 years. Same thing for New York fans... they may dream of the Nets or Knicks lifting the trophy... but with these superteams, they really got no shot. Now that's the big markets... I don't even want to get into small markets like Milwaukee who have a zilch shot of winning a championship in any upcoming year.

Now what does this mean? To me it means the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Now work with me for a minute and imagine that you live in the Bay Area and you love basketball, but you know that your local team has only been in the playoffs once in 16 years and has no shot of winning the championship until at least 2017. Also imagine there is a championship caliber team merely a 6-8 hour drive South and that you like watching star players and winning teams. Is it really a surprise that there are SO MANY Laker fans in the area? Off-seasons like this only exacerbate the Bay Area Laker Fan disease.

The rich get richer...

The lack of parity is a huge issue in the NBA and it is not getting any better. It is causing fandom to center around superteams with a distant interest in the local teams (outside of you guys. You guys bleed DUBDOM like no other).

The NBA is becoming more and more like the Premier League where fans huddle around a few superteams like Manchester United and every other team becomes neglected by the casual fan.

Maybe that's what David Stern wants.. but is it good for ball or bad for ball?