For the National Basketball Association, it is so mindboggling and earthshaking that it has a title, so simple yet so significant: The Summer of 2010. The best basketball players on the planet may or may not have different addresses by the fall of 2010. Their prospective movements will definitely change the NBA landscape for years to come.

We talked to a couple of other basketball nuts about how this free agent market might turn out. Let us take a look at who these players are and where they might go.

Dirk Nowitzki, 7’0” 255 pounds, Forward-Center: This is a guy who has spent his entire career with the Dallas Mavericks. He’s been the face of this franchise for the better part of the last decade. Unfortunately he has come no closer to winning an NBA championship. They came so close in 2006, taking a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals, until the Miami Heat completely upended them. Nowitzki is one of the most highly skilled players in the league, and he can do many things 7-footers are not supposed to be able to do. He can nail the three-ball, fill the lanes in transition, handle and pass like a player several inches shorter. But after three Round 1 ousters over the last four years, his title aspiration might be better served elsewhere.

Decision: Will most likely stay in Dallas; at age 32 though, might seriously consider going for a legit title shot for less money, i.e. the LA Lakers

Chris Bosh, 6’10” 235 pounds, Forward-Center: In his young career he has known only the Toronto Raptors, and he’s even had one or two fights in the Eastern Conference Playoffs with them. He’s still only in his late 20’s and should be looking to make more money over and above making a committed and Kobe-obsessive drive for an NBA championship right here and now. He’d like to be with a contender, but what player would not? This is a situation where Bosh could simply strike a deal with whoever offers the best deal, income-wise. New York might be going unabashedly all out to land the King, but they have more than enough cap room to get someone like Bosh as well. That would be an everybody-wins situation: the Knicks regain respectability and two kids who want to gain fame and fortune come to the Big Apple to play on the world’s biggest stage. There is also the tantalizing prospect of joining a young but talented core in Chicago where he gets to play with the best pointguard he will ever play with, Derrick Rose.

Decision: Looks set to head off to the Big Apple; Chicago however cannot be counted out of this situation

Dwayne Wade, 6’4” 215 pounds, Guard: He is thus far the only member of that heralded rookie draft class of 2003 that has an NBA championship. He did it by learning to be the leader on a star-studded team that overcame a 0-2 series deficit in the NBA Finals of 2006. At a young age, he still wants to win more titles, bring home more trophies. He cannot get that done in Miami as it is presently constructed. But with Pat Riley at the helm, the help he needs can’t be far away. Perhaps he could persuade Bosh or Nowitzki to join him in South Beach. The weather is beautiful at least 360 days of the year. There are celebrities, an international vibe, a genuinely warm and friendly fan base, and the prospect that the legendary Riley could return to coaching at any time if the talent is there. Riley has enough money and the gravitas to keep Wade and persuade at least one max money free agent superstar to come to Miami to join Wade in a new title campaign.

Decision: Will most likely stay in Miami, but if and only if at least one other top free agent comes over, otherwise it’s off to someplace with snow in winter

Lebron James, 6’8” 245 pounds, Forward-Guard: Undoubtedly the biggest prize in NBA free agency. Ever. In spite of two horrible ousters from the Eastern Conference Playoffs, no one would ever dispute that he is indeed the most talented and most gifted player on the planet. In short, any team that gets him will become instant contenders. Whether or not he actually delivers is of little import to whoever gets him. At the very least that franchise will instantly make more money, get more press, move more merchandise, like Michael Jordan did when he came to Chicago. Like many of the other top free agents mentioned above, James has been with only one tam – the Cleveland Cavaliers – his entire career. He’s brought them to the NBA Finals once already, losing to the savvy and veteran San Antonio Spurs. Perhaps he might never win an NBA championship if he remains in Ohio. Being a hometown boy plays a part here as well, and Cleveland can give him far more money than even the cap space-clearing Knicks and spend-happy Nets.

Decision: Still has at least a 50-50 chance of remaining in Cleveland, would need the deal of the ages to make a big move to either the Knicks or the Nets

Paul Pierce, 6’7” 230 pounds, Swingman: Pierce has been with the proud Boston Celtics his entire career. Even during their dark ages over the better part of the last 20 years, Pierce hung in there. There is no reason to think he would go elsewhere. He is already a 30-something veteran with some 15 years of mileage, and he would surely wish to end his NBA career where he started it and where he has remained steadfast and stoic. Heck, he’s right on the endge of winning another NBA championship right here. Certainly there might be a team or two out there who might be able to sign someone like Bosh or James and add him as a “final piece” type of veteran leader. But given his history, his ties, and his personality, it would take nothing short of a giant asteroid obliterating the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to make Pierce leave.

Decision: There will be offers, many of them quite substantial, nothing however will move Pierce from Boston

Joe Johnson, 6’7” 230 pounds, Swingman: This is one player who is unlike the others on this list thus far. He used to be with the Phoenix Suns; presently he is with the Atlanta Hawks. He can score in bunches in a hurry, and he has proven he can actually be the superstar for a team and pull it off. But he’s also failed to make the Hawks actual contenders for an NBA championship. Their Round 2 embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Orlando Magic this season all but certainly points to his leaving. Could he join the Magic next season? Orlando doesn’t have that much money to offer. Johnson however is just at that tricky age in his early 30’s, where the imperative to win a title might be looming more heavily than retiring with loads of cash and a half-dozen expensive cars. Unfortunately that would call for Johnson doing something he has yet to do in his NBA career: be a genuine team player.

Decision: Definitely leaving the great state of Georgia, might head for Florida and the Magic Kingdom.