Anybody but Isiah

Former Pacers GM Donnie Walsh is set to oversee the basketball operations for the Knicks, and while Corky from Life Goes On would be an upgrade over Isiah Thomas, but Walsh is so overrated as a talent evaluator it's ridiculous. He destroyed the Pacers and built the Warriors in an incredibly one sided eight player mega deal about a year ago, hired Isiah Thomas as coach, traded Antonio Davis for a top 5 pick, and used that pick on Jonathan Bender instead of Shawn Marion, Rip Hamilton, or Wally Szczerbiak. His one great trade was Dale Davis for Jermaine O'Neal, but that was an obvious move at the time.

NBA trade are weird

To show how weird NBA trades are, let's go back and try to evaluate a draft day deal from June: Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, Fred Jones, and a 2007 2nd rounder for Channing Frye, Steve Francis, and a 2008 2nd rounder. Portland promptly bought out Francis' contract for $30 million, in fear of his negative attitude rubbing off on Greg Oden and company, and let's cancel the 2nd rounders out, so the deal was more like Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, Fred Jones, and $30 million for Channing Frye.

Randolph is averaging 17 and 10, Frye is averaging 6.6 and 4.5. The Knicks are on pace to win 24 games after winning 33 last year; the Blazers are on pace to win 44 after winning 32 last year. So Portland trades a perennial 20 and 10 guy, 2 decent contracts, and mid eight figures for a 6'11" pulse, and they win the trade. How the hell is anyone supposed to evaluate NBA trades, when this has to be considered a decent haul? You can argue other reasons for Portland's improvement and the Knicks' fall, but there were no other substantial changes in terms of personnel. The moral of the story is you don't want to have negative personalities on your team, no matter how productive they are.

Best. Name. Ever.

Chris Webber is apparently engaged to a South African star named Cleopatra Mariri. She has been living here all over the United States wherever Chris Webber is playing over the last four years. She's got another celebrity friend named - wait for it - Chichi Letswalo who has come to the greatest country in the world "looking for a rich man and a job." But wait, it gets even better! Miss Letswalo was hired as Stephen Marbury's nanny at $140 a week. The same Stephen Marbury who admitted to sharing an intern with a cousin outside a strip club last month. So let me just say what we're all thinking: Marbury just hired a 24 hour bang maid for a fraction of minimum wage. Which makes it the best Knicks signing since Pat Riley.

Kobe beef

Whether Kobe Bryant cleaned out his locker or merely cleaned his locker, it sounds like Kobe's days in L.A. are numbered. Kobe has criticized management for poor personnel decisions, which include:

• Trading Shaquille O'Neal for two good players and a bad contract, failing to demand Dwyane Wade from Miami in return
• Trading the best player they got Shaq for Kwame Brown
• Passing in the draft on Josh Howard for Brian Cook

The Kobe situation is different than the Kobe situation that spurred the Shaq trade. Most notably: Kobe was a free agent when he orchestrated Shaq's exile from L.A., while Kobe is signed for two more years now. (Which reminds me - Kobe's fallback plan back then was signing with the Clippers. Does he honestly think he'd have a better supporting cast there? Donald Sterling would have been happy to surround him with Krispy Kream employees.) So what can Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers hope to get for the best player in the NBA? And where can we expect Kobe to end up?

I agree with Chad Ford's latest column pretty much across the board. He lists Chicago as the favorites, potentially giving up Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Joakim Noah, and expiring contracts. This would be a pretty strong package that would revamp their starting lineup, but it lacks a superstar. That's where his number two contender comes in. The Wizards could potentially offer Gilbert Arenas, 1st round pick Nick Young, Darius Songalia, and a future 1st round pick. It's a lot to give up on both sides, but both teams are terrified of their superstars opting out - Arenas next summer, Bryant the following summer. The Wizards would suddenly be a favorite in the East, maybe the favorite, only losing one starter. DeShawn Stevenson might have a chance to meet Lindsey Lohan through new backcourt mate Kobe. And the Lakers could be confident that they could resign Arenas. It sounds like it could happen.