What the hell's goin on here! We got who? What? No Dwight? Mo' Dwight?. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

After saying he couldn’t see himself in a Lakers jersey, Steve Nash is now their point guard.

After saying they’d match any offer for Jeremy Lin up to “$1 billion”, the Knicks will probably let Linsanity flow out of Houston.

It is “highly doubtful” NY will match Jeremy Lin’s offer sheet with HOU, source tells Y! Sports. NY likely to wait 3 days before declining.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 15, 2012

Dwight Howard trades to LA, Houston and Brooklyn have been “imminent” a dozen times, Ray Allen is on the Heat and Landry Fields got $20 million to play in Toronto.

With Nets out of the Dwight Howard sweepstakes, Rockets have emerged as the front runners.

— Legion Sports (@MySportsLegion) July 12, 2012

The 76ers waived Elton Brand and let Lou Williams walk to Atlanta. Speaking of the Hawks, they did the unthinkable and managed to find a team willing to take on Joe Johnson’s contract; The Nets.

The Charlotte Bobcats got a first round draft pick AND Ben Gordon out of Corey Maggette from the Pistons.

Eric Gordon spoke glowingly about Phoenix after receiving a max contract from the Suns only to have New Orleans match it.

Eric Gordon: “There is always a business element to the NBA when dealing with contracts but I never lost my appreciation for the NOLA fans.”

— Doug Mouton (@DMoutonWWL) July 14, 2012

Kyrie Irving broke his hand slapping a wall (and called out Kobe Byrant) and Blake Griffin hurt his knee with team USA.

Cavs’ Kyrie Irving breaks hand slapping wall padding. espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id…

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 15, 2012

And that’s not everything that went down.

Holy crap.

This summer has been far from slow for the NBA, after last summer ceased to exist.

It has to be a given that the upcoming season will be just as wild, right?

May 18, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers point guard Ramon Sessions (7) celebrates after scoring a basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half of game three of the Western Conference semifinals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

The Charlotte Bobcats have finally made some moves in free agency.

Former Myrtle Beach High School star Ramon Sessions signed a two year deal with the Bobcats, probably worth around $4.4 million (the qualifying offer Charlotte rescinded from D.J. Augustin).  In 19 starts for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, Sessions scored 12.7 points, dished out 6.7 assists and grabbed 3.4 rebounds per game.

Augustin scored 11.1 points, dished 6.4 assists and grabbed 2.3 rebounds a game for Charlotte last year.

As a replacement, Sessions does have the better numbers, but it’s somewhat shocking the Bobcats didn’t try to work a sign and trade with a team that really needed a point guard. The Indiana Pacers nabbed Augustin off the market just one hour after he became an unrestricted free agent. Surely Charlotte could’ve got something back for him.

The Bobcats are still in desperate need of a proven player at the power forward spot and anyone who can play (true) center.

Charlotte’s number one option at center is Brendon Haywood who could be picked up off the waiver wire. The Mavs amnestied Haywoood, taking his remaining $35 million off their books (they still have to pay the remainder of that minus whatever the team that picks him up off the wire pays him). Teams under the cap have first dibs at amnestied players, and the Bobcats are expected to put in a serious bid for him.

Another amnestied player could be the guy Charlotte is looking for at PF. Elton Brand won’t be with the 76ers next season, because they’re going to use the one-time amnesty clause on him to clear cap space. The Bobcats will have serious competition with the Dallas Mavericks on this bid; The Mavs have had one of the worst off seasons of any team this year, and they’re in desperate need of proven players to surround Dirk Nowitzki.

The three other players the Bobcats are interested in at power forward are Antwan Jamison (who is deciding between signing for not so much money with a contender, taking more money to be part of a sign and trade that would send him to New Jersey, or taking the most money to play in his home town, Charlotte) and Kris Humphries (who’s probably going to end up in Brooklyn; The nets have reportedly offered Humphries a 3-year, $23 million deal while the Bobcats only offered a 3-year $22 million deal. The Nets are better, and offering more money… kind of a no-brainer).

The most likely PF candidate to end up in Charlotte is Jamison, but don’t count out his desire to get a ring when penciling him in as the Bobcats starting 4 next season. He’s seriously considering playing for the Lakers in 2013.

There could always be more wrinkles, twists, and turns thrown into this off season, but right now, those are the moves Charlotte is pushing.

Not sure why, but this makes me smile. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

The Cavs have dropped out of the discussion between four teams involved in a 16 player trade that would ultimately send Dwight Howard to Brooklyn. The Charlotte Bobcats have stepped in.

The biggest cog in the deal is Kris Humphries’ assertion that he will not be part of any sign-and-trade that doesn’t end with him getting a long-term deal. Cleveland was only willing to take him on for one season.

There are indications that the Bobcats are willing to sign him for more than that one year:

Bobcats willing to give Kris Humphries multi-year deal in potential 3-way trade with Nets & Magic, source says. … sulia.com/c/basketball/f…

— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) July 10, 2012

Some people say Charlotte might take the Clippers out of this deal too, because the Bobcats also want Marshon Brooks:

/SIGH RT @RicBucher report that Cha would take Brooks to be third team in Nets-Magic DH deal. Source says opposite: Cha wants a 1st rd pick.

— Spencer Percy (@QCsportscrave) July 10, 2012

In the old deal, the Clippers would have reportedly sent a first round pick to the Nets for Brooks, and the Cavs would have reportedly received a first round pick along with Humphries (before they backed out). So, perhaps Charlotte could just keep the pick they would have to send for Brooks and not receive a pick with Humphries (Orlando probably wouldn’t like that).

Here’s why taking on those two players would make (so, so) so much sense for the Bobcats: Brooks (in his rookie season) scored 15.5 points, grabbed 4.4 rebounds and dished out 2.9 assists per 36 minutes last season. Humphries is 26 and he’s averaged a double-double the past two seasons. Last year he scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds a game.

The Bobcats would have a log jam at the 2-guard position if they landed Brooks, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s better to have to find minutes for a few good players than be forced to give minutes to one bad guy. And he’s a productive player who’s signed to a rookie deal.

When it comes to Humphries, there’s really no reason not to take him on and give him the deal he wants; Charlotte was 28th in points in the paint last year and 29th in rebounding.

The other thing to take into account is the opportunities Charlotte probably won’t have in the future; The Bobcats tried to get in on the Eric Gordon sweepstakes, and they tried to bring Goran Dragic to town. Young, productive players aren’t breaking down the door to get to the Queen City anytime soon. Outside of the draft, Humphries might be the best available player the Bobcats could get over the next few seasons.

This move (these moves) would not make the Bobcats so much better that Rich Cho’s build-through-the-draft philosophy would be compromised. But it would make the Bobcats more competitive and watchable.

If the Charlotte Bobcats don’t have to give up any first round draft picks (and they probably wouldn’t to get Humphries, at least), there’s no reason they should back off of this trade. If they have to give up a pick for Brooks, they should just let the Clippers play that role and take on Humphries and the pick that was going to Cleveland.

It’s not like they’ll be competing with the Nets for an Eastern Conference title any time soon, and creating a salary clogged monster in Brooklyn could actually benefit the Bobcats when those players in NY are on the decline, and Charlotte’s future (hopefully… hopefully… maybe?) stars are on the rise.

Apr 14, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Nets power forward Kris Humphries (43) controls tip against Boston Celtics power forward Kevin Garnett (5) at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Aside from the players I listed yesterday, Charlotte will take Ralph Sampson III and Othello Hunter to Las Vegas to be on on its summer league roster.

The other players on the squad will be Kemba Walker, Bismack Biyombo, Byron Mullens, Corey Higgins, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeffrey Taylor.

Charlotte plays five games in Vegas, and you can watch any summer league game you want on NBA.com.

The more interesting news of the day comes out of Orlando/Brooklyn. With trade talks somewhat stalled between the Magic, Nets, Cavs and Clippers, Charlotte could sneak its way into a deal that would send Dwight Howard to Brookyn.

Cleveland has been reluctant to take on Chris Humphries in a sign-and-trade for more than one season, and Humphries wants a long term deal.

If the Bobcats are trying to work their way into this trade, they’re probably willing to give Humphries that longer-term contract.

But, who knows if he’ll agree to a contract that keeps him in Charlotte for the foreseeable future.

For a more in depth version of this story (and other NBA rumors) read the always great Rick Bonnell from the Charlotte Observer.