In college basketball, word “Atlantic” conjures up images of ACC powerhouses such as Duke, Wake Forest, UNC, and University of Maryland, all perennial Final Four and Top 25 powerhouses. The eastern seaboard along Interstate 95 has come to be associated with pure dominance.

The pros are a different story. Since NBA realignment two years ago, Atlantic has become a laughingstock, occasionally referred to as “The Wacklantic” or other invented names. There’s good reason --- current Atlantic Division leaders, Boston Celtics, are a very average 29-28, good for a .509 winning percentage. Among other five division leaders, lowest winning percentage is .648, presently held by surging Pistons.

What’s worse is this --- whoever emerges as Atlantic “champion” draws three seed in East, yet might lose home court advantage to eventual six-seed (probably Bulls, Wizards, or Cavs). David Stern has gone on record as saying six-seed will be investigated for possibly going in tank down stretch to draw a more favorable first-round match-up.

The Atlantic is a poor complement to torrid play in other divisions this season, but there may be cause for hope. At trading deadline last Thursday, several division “powerhouses” beefed up their weak lineups, causing us to reconsider entire balance of power within Northeast. Hoops Avenue now presents new “power” rankings for Atlantic Division:

1) Philadelphia 76ers: AI’s crew nabbed perennial All-Star, 20 and 10 man Chris Webber at deadline, sending tremors throughout entire East. Webber does play on a bum knee, but Iverson has never had a sidekick of this magnitude before. Consider this: Iverson, who is most prolific scorer in league but regularly suffers from being banged up since he’s only true option in Philly much of time, reached Finals once --- in 2001, with Dikembe Mutombo as his running mate. Not to dismiss Deke, but Webber is an excellent four-man who can drain it from elbow or ram it inside. The Sixers did fall in Webber’s debut to Kings (ironic), but team hadn’t had a chance to jell yet --- and when they do (Iverson is actually awaiting practice), watch out. Philly plays majority of its remaining games at home, and C-Webb will get it on with inexperienced Mike Sweetney (Knicks) and overhyped Raef LaFrentz (Celtics) as division ball heats up. The Sixers should easily capture Atlantic behind AI/C-Webb dynamic alongside a blossoming Samuel Dalembert, and might even serve as a tough draw for eventual sixth team in East.

The top picks of that board have arrived, in many cases far sooner than expected. LeBron is a perennial magazine cover boy, and most oft-asked question in week before All-Star break was “Is he next Jordan?” Carmelo’s game dropped a bit after Athens, but under George Karl, he has begun to diversify his overall package a bit, and Nuggets are improving behind him. Wade is one-half of arguably most dynamic 1-2 punch in league right now, and later selections from ’03 --- Ridnour and Collison in Pacific Northwest, Josh Howard down in Dallas, and David West in imploding New Orleans organization --- are making significant gains in their games.

With apparent acceleration of NBA’s learning curve, a question naturally arises: which players from 2004 NBA Draft --- current rooks --- could become league-wide sensations by midpoint of next season? Never fret. Hoops Avenue has your hook-up:

Emeka Okfaor, F/C, Bobcats: Okafor could swipe ROY honors this year. Ironically, his biggest threat is probably former teammate Ben Gordon, now a true “Baby Bull.” More on Gordon in a second, but Okafor has put surprising Bobcats on his back. In a game against Bulls this past weekend, he scored 26 to complement 12 rebounds, and is, statistically speaking, 10th-best center in NBA already. Okafor has had nagging back injuries since his days in Storrs, though, and he’s been sidelined for portions of his rookie campaign. If he can play through, and lottery-bound Bobcats can nab one of point guards likely to come out this year, Okafor’s stock could rise substantially in his sophomore campaign. He’s a smart baller, and with a true point guard --- no offense, Jason Hart --- he could be man in Charlotte for years to come.

Dwight Howard, F/C, Magic: Howard should be getting more props from media in general for his excellence on boards --- he’s a hair under 10 boards a game for season, and his offense and defense improves consistently from week to week. Howard might get media backhand because as high schoolers in NBA go, he’s far short of Bron Bron, but far north of Kwame Brown at this point in their careers. Howard is still very young, and cast in Orlando is eclectic. He probably won’t be a perennial All-Star, 20 and 10 guy until 2008, but watch his constant upward progress, whether for fantasy purposes or sheer enjoyment.