The Los Angeles Lakers played the revamped Atlanta Hawks last night and showed what they are truly capable of. The dominance was like no other game I’ve seen this season.

At one point in the second quarter the score was 68-28. SERIOUSLY, 68-28!!

The game was a complete destruction of the same team that last beat the Lakers less than two weeks ago. In Atlanta, the first game after Kobe’s pinkie injury, the Hawks defeated the Lakers by three with an unfortunate turnover by Kobe Bryant late in the game. Last night was clearly about revenge led by Kobe’s and Pau’s 23 points each. These are the types of games I look forward to the remainder of the season.

Tonight will be the Lakers first real challenge of the revamped rosters. Its unfortunate for the Lakers that this is the last time they will play the Suns, until the playoffs at least. The Lakers are ahead in the season series 2-1. The addition of Shaq and Pau to the respective teams have made a huge difference in the Western Conference.

As far as the Lakers trade goes, all analysts agree that the move was brilliant on the Lakers side. “They gave up a player that didn’t even crack the top 10 in the rotation to get Pau Gasol, while Phoenix and Dallas have given up core players to acquire their stars.” The Suns especially gave up their best defender and most consistent player while Dallas was forced to part with their future in Devin Harris. I think its quite simple to identify how these trades impacted the teams that were involved in the trades.

The winner of each trade was as follows:

• Los Angeles Lakers – Memphis Grizzlies: Lakers win trade by acquiring Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown, a failure in the NBA, and a few potential successful players. The two first round draft picks aren’t worth all that much and are worth trading for Gasol because with Gasol, those picks won’t be very high. The Lakers will finish in the playoffs for the next five years meaning that the Grizzlies pick will be no higher than 15 in both 2008 and 2010 (both picks will probably be in the late 20s).
• Phoenix Suns – Miami Heat: It is not easy to see who won this trade yet, but in terms of value that the teams got for their superstar players, the Miami Heat got the best value for Shaq. The team was looking ahead with no chance of succeeding any time soon. Having the NBA’s worst record and no salary cap flexibility for the foreseeable future, as long as Shaq is around, the city of Miami was looking forward to a basketball season identical to its NFL season. Luckily, the Phoenix Suns were willing to take on the massive contract hey no longer wanted to pay, and then they got a superstar that perfectly compliments Dwyane Wade. The Heat have a bright future now and the Suns don’t quite know what they have.
• Dallas Mavericks – New Jersey Nets: Jason Kidd coming back to the team that drafted him was a huge move for Mark Cuban. Apparently Kidd has been Cubans man crush since he first laid eyes on him. Either way, the Nets got a great package for Kidd in Devin Harris, a future star, Diop, a solid center, and expiring contracts. The Mavericks side was decent as well because Kidd will obviously help Dirk succeed.

The issue with the trade for the Mavs is the same as the problem for the Suns; with the Lakers already being as strong as they are at this point, does closing the window for championship level competition make sense for these teams. Did the future of Harris and Terry together not mean enough to Mark Cuban? Was the future of Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire dominating together for the next five years not worth holding onto? Apparently teams want to win today in the West and as a fan of basketball, I support the movement!

Who knows what stars will come around in five years, surely teams willing to pay the money will have all star lineups in either case and everyone will be happy for years to come.