John Hollinger: Greetings again everyone. It's All-Star Week and I can't wait to get to Houston ... but first, let's talk.

Greg (Lansing, MI): Word is the Magic have offered their first-round pick and Kelvin Cato's expiring contract to Detroit for Carlos Arroyo and Darko Milicic. Should the Pistons do it?

SportsNation John Hollinger: I'd have to know more about the first-rounder. If it has no lottery protection I'd at least think about it. Actually, for me the problem isn't trading Darko, it's including Arroyo. Are you really going to put that much trust in Lindsey Hunter? Because if he reinjures the foot after the trade deadline, that puts the Pistons in a really tight spot.

Romeo (Boston): Hi! If the playoffs started today Denver would be seeded third, yet there are four teams with a better record. In the East, Nets are third, though Cleveland has a better record and several others only one game behind. My question is, how much of a pressure this (yearly) phenomenon puts on the NBA to abandon the current seeding system and just go with 1st to 8th seeding?

SportsNation John Hollinger: Well, my hopes is that it puts a lot of pressure on the league to abandon this system, because it's absolutely idiotic. There is virtually no difference in schedule between the 15 teams in each conference, so arbitrarily putting them into "divisions" and giving one of them a No. 3 seed is ridiculous. Not to mention, it punishes the No. 1 and No. 4 seed and overly rewards No. 2 and No. 3. Having Cleveland-Detroit and Dallas-San Anto in the conference semis is absurd.

Ben (Oakland): Are the Warriors going to be able to use their $5+ million exception before it expires tomorrow?

SportsNation John Hollinger: It really depends on whether ownership is comfortable paying luxury tax or not. If they are, then there are deals out there for Mullin to make. If not, then I don't see how they can add more salary, which makes the exception pretty worthless.

Jake (Iowa): Boozer's back... and my fantasy team rejoices! Any chance he returns to the double double machine he was last year?

SportsNation John Hollinger: I've had him on my fantasy team, too, so I share your joy at his return. He's looked good in his brief cameos, however, the Jazz still are managing his minutes very carefully and will probably only increase them slowly. So I would expect him to take a few weeks before he's really putting up numbers.

Joey (Denver): The Nuggets have 3 big chips in play with K-Mart, Nene, and Watson, not to mention the expiring salary of Vo Lenard. Which if not all will get moved? Might we see a BIG multi-player deal between the Nuggets and Knicks?

SportsNation John Hollinger: At this point it's almost inconceivable that the Nuggets won't make at least one deal and probably more. Bryon Russell is in play as well, and I'm sure Julius Hodge could be had simply by asking. I think the most likely scenario is Nene packaged with a guy like Lenard or Russell in return for a guard, but the K-Mart-to-the-Knicks rumors aren't going away.

Charles (San Jose): John, would you be OK with following the NFL and MLB model and not allowing non-division winners to get homecourt advantage against a division winner? Because it will be ridiculous when a 6 seed hosts a 3.

SportsNation John Hollinger: I think it's absurd either way. If the No. 6 has the better record, then why are they seeded sixth? Hopefully the Dallas-San Antonio situation will shame the league into addressing this.

Carlos (East Haven, CT): Please explain to me John, what the heck is wrong with the Knicks. I hear all these stupid trade rumors. Just keep everyone and let them get off the books, instead of adding more salary.

SportsNation John Hollinger: The problem with doing that is it will still be years before the Knicks get under the cap. So there's really no advantage to doing it, unless you value James Dolan's checkbook more than he seems to.

Martin (Cleveland): Based on the direction each team is going, doesn't it make sense for Cleveland Cavaliers to trade Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes to the Seattle Supersonics for Ray Allen?

SportsNation John Hollinger: Makes better sense for Cleveland than for Seattle. If the Sonics wanted to trade Allen they would do it to dump salary, not take back another big deal like Hughes's and a restricted free agent who, combined with Hughes, would end up costing even more than Allen did.

Adam (Atlanta, GA): Do you see any way that Portland can be a decent team ever again?

SportsNation John Hollinger: Oh absolutely. Right now they're terrible, but they also have as much young talent as any team in the league. If they'd stop shooting themselves in the foot with moves like Ratliff's extension and taking Webster over Paul, they'd be back in the pack in no time.

Ron (McKinney, TX): Has there ever been anyone in the L that has made more boneheaded moves than Isiah Thomas? How long until the NY braintrust says "enough, already" and brings in someone with a clue? Great player, but literally out of his league in the front office ...

SportsNation John Hollinger: That's probably the 20th or 30th post I've seen already that had "please fire Isiah" as its basic theme. Yes, his tenure has been an umitigated disaster, and if he trades Frye for Kenyon Martin that would be the icing on the cake.

Roy (Encino, CA): John, You?re Mitch Kupchak/Jim Buss. You have extra draft picks and a large amount in terms of dollars in expiring Ks. You also have the 2nd youngest team in the NBA and desperately need some veteran help for the sake of consistency. What do you do to help this young team?

SportsNation John Hollinger: I think in L.A.'s case the "second-youngest team" thing is a bit of a red herring -- their average age is so low because of Bynum and Wafer, neither of whom ever plays. The main guys, Kobe, Odom, Miihm, George and Parker, are mid-career types, so L.A. should be playing for the present. I'd like to see them deal for a guard who can stroke it but Kupchak's track record doesn't inspire confidence.

Robbie, CA: With the Artest trade working out so good for the Kings do you see them making at least one more trade before the deadline? Maybe move Bonzi?

SportsNation John Hollinger: I'm sure the Kings would be open to trading Wells if the right deal came along, because Martin and Garcia need to play. But he's an expiring contract and the Kings don't want to take on a longer deal in return, so I'm not sure how the logistics could work.

Neal (Newark, DE): It seems San Antonio has done a pretty good job in the past handling their finances. How do they look going forward to keep their key three players in place and still surround them with a decent bench and role players?

SportsNation John Hollinger: They'll be fine. Their three key players all are signed for several more years -- I believe Manu and Parker each have five years left on their deals, and Duncan, Oberto, Rasho, Bowen, Barry and Udrih all are signed throught at least 2008.

kenny (cali): Is Detroit struggling - relative to San A. and Dallas that is. Obviously 41-9 is is pretty solid

SportsNation John Hollinger: Detroit isn't doing much of anything different -- they're just losing by 2 insteaad of winning by 2 these past couple weeks. Basically, one reason they got out to such a great start was they won an inordinate number of close games, and in the past two weeks that figure has evened out.

Jack(Canada): One question John, why are the Nets getting no love from anybody when their first in the Atlantic and not far from having the second best record in the east?? What about a VC for MVP campaign?

SportsNation John Hollinger: You vastly overstate the Net's case. They're in first in the Atlantic only because the rest of the division stinks, and they've barely outscord their opponents on the season (+0.7 per game) despite having the big three healthy the whole year. To me they're a huge disappointment thus far.

Tom (DC): The Wizards have been coasting along, moving up to fifth in the east and on a nice hot streak. Can they sustain this level of play or will they need to make some roster moves?

SportsNation John Hollinger: Washington definitely can sustain this -- they've recovered nicely from the Hughes loss and are unusually healthy for an NBA team at midseason. I'm impressed with Blatche and Taylor as well. As far as trades, not sure there's much out there that'd really work for them, although I'm sure they'll put in calls about Nene.

JD (Utah): The NBA has two absolutely horrible divisions this year: the Atlantic and the Northwest. Shouldn't the NBA rethink the 6 division alignment?

SportsNation John Hollinger: The reality is that most years you're going to end up with one or two divisions where the winner barely clears .500, just based on simple probability. I think that's fine as long as you don't take that terrible team and gift them the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, which basically ensures No. 2 a skip through the conference finals while No. 1 and No. 4 are beating each others' brains out.

Joe (Mountain View, CA): Why doesn't Phil Jackson give Brian Cook more minutes on a regular basis. His PER is far superior to that of Kwame Brown and he provides them with another player than can actually put the ball in the basket on a regular basis.

SportsNation John Hollinger: I'm very interested in seeing what Phil does when Mihm comes back. Right now he needs Kwame to defend the post, since Cook is a bit small, but if I had to choose I'd take Cook's shot (and the spacing he gives Kobe) over Kwame's power.

Rob (Dallas): John- Since the playoff format wont change, and the commish is too hard headed, any chance we can breakup the southwest division? Dallas is kinda close to colorado. Put us in the northwest division. But seriously... Do you think the Mavs can catch the Spurs for #1 seeding?

SportsNation John Hollinger: Well, they are sort of in Northwestern Texas ... at least compared to Houston. In all seriousness, I love the battle being waged right now between Dallas and SA for No. 1, and it's yet another reason that it's such a bummer to see them having to meet in the conference semis. Right now only one game separates them and they have the same number of home and road games left, so I'm not going to pretend to know which one will prevail. Next meeting: March 2 in San Antonio.

Rod (Philly): John, what is going on with the Philly Titanic? It seems like this team is falling apart. Whom are the main culprits in this situation and do you think it'll get better anytime soon?

SportsNation John Hollinger: They aren't falling apart, they're just not that good. Basically, they're another mediocre Eastern team that's destined to go 39-43 and get trampled by the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. The problem is that Billy King's moves have painted them into a corner -- they're basically stuck with this roster until C-Webb's contract expires. (Incidentally, for those who asked, that's why trading Iverson makes no sense -- you still have no cap space unless you find a taker for Webber first).

Steve (DC): Do you hate the Chicago Bulls? Answer a question about them please. haha.....Will they make a move before the deadline?? I think they should try to get Garnett.

SportsNation John Hollinger: Actually, last night in LA was the first time all year the Bulls reminded me of last year's Bulls. The newly shorn Tyson Chandler was all over the place defensively and their role players all produced. As far as trying for Garnett ... of course. And good luck with that. Until or uless Garnett walks into Kevin McHale's office and says "trade me", there is a 0% chance of another team acquiring him.

Dominic (Nassau): I was wondering what more does Carmelo Anthony have to do to be considered and All-Star in this league.

SportsNation John Hollinger: He has to play in the East, that's what. With seven good forwards and only six spots, it was a numbers game. I was pretty much indifferent between he and Gasol for the last spot, but having Gasol as the backup center was much more plausible so he won out.

Phil (New Orleans): Can we give the Hornets' front office props for getting Kirk Snyder and Rasual Butler for nothing last offseason? Both of these guys have been key contributors in their success.

SportsNation John Hollinger: I agree entirely, especially on the Snyder pickup. I don't know what Jeff Bower saw in Snyder last year -- he was awful in Utah, just awful -- but the guy has really turned it around for the Hornets.

Jeremy (St. Louis): Give us your three most underrated players in the league.

SportsNation John Hollinger: Underrated is always subjective. But based on their level of play relative to what I perceive as their fame level, I would say Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Elton Brand and Devin Harris.

Hal Oswego, NY: What are your thoughts on Zarko Cabarkapa? I feel that he has the talent to be a great contributer, yet he is stuck on the bench is Golden State. Do you see him doing well if he gets the playing time?

SportsNation John Hollinger: Cabarkapa is a clever offensive player, but he's such a poor defender that it's really tough to find minutes for hiim. Basically, he's too slow to guard 3s and too weak to guard 4s. So if the shot isn't falling -- and this year it isn't -- he's pretty worthless.

Christopher (Phoenix): True or False:The Suns are good enough to win the west?

SportsNation John Hollinger: True, as long as Amare Stoudemire is back. Without him, they'd be one gun short in the conference finals.

Tom(Minny): Shareef was drafted 3rd overall in a 96 draft where if we redrafted today, probably wouldnt even be in the lottery . Hes just a bad luck guy with marginal talent , how is he underrated?

SportsNation John Hollinger: Thank you for proving my point.

RL (NY): Was that Suns answer your way of saying you don't know?

SportsNation John Hollinger: I'm saying if Stoudemire comes back they'll take San Antonio and Dallas to the wire. If he doesn't, they'll lose in five again.

Keith (Chicago, IL): Why are all you guys giving teams a hard time about Chris Paul. The only teams that really passed on him are Atlanta and Utah. And I seem to remember everyone loving Marvin Williams pre-draft so no one at ESPN should be talking.

SportsNation John Hollinger: Milwaukee, Atlanta and Utah all drafted ahead of New Orleans. Portland owned the pick at No. 3 before deciding to trade it to Utah. All four teams could have taken Paul, and only Milwaukee got anything close to the same value. Additionally, a couple other teams had chances to trade up to No. 3 and passed.

Andrew (PA): Since you mentioned Devin Harris, the obvious next question is what do the Mavs do with Jason Terry this summer? Resign him and bury Devin or let him go and let Harris run the show?

SportsNation John Hollinger: I would try to sign-and-trade Terry for a big and give the keys to Harris. He's ready.

Jon (Minneapolis): John, what is up with the T-wolves? Is there a way to turn this season around or should we look to rebuild. And what do you think of Casey as a coach so far?

SportsNation John Hollinger: I like Casey a lot -- Minnesota is defending much better this year, and that's one of the first things I look at in evaluating coaches. Keep in mind that Minnesota has arguably played the toughest schedule in the league so far -- nearly half their remaining games (15 of 32) are vs. the East. That said, there's just so little talent around Garnett, especially now that Hudson's out, that I doubt they'll escape the lottery.

Walter (New Hampshire): Do you feel people passed on Paul because of his size? He's listed at 6', but you know he is closer to 5'10".

SportsNation John Hollinger: I'm sure that came up -- a lot of teams are overly fixated on big guards in my opinion, and one can see how it may have especially influenced Utah's Deron Williams selection.

Keith (Chicago, IL): Yes, but it didn't make any sense. Portland had Telfair, Milwaukee had Ford, Utah hasn't made a good GM decision in yeasrs, and Atlanta had already decided they wanted Johnson at point and thought they would just let harrington's contract expire.

SportsNation John Hollinger: It didn't make sense for Mliwaukee. But the Telfair and Johnson evaluations were, in retrospect, obviously poor decisions. Telfair still has a long, long way to go, and Atlanta knew Johnson couldn't play point full-time after one preseason game.

SportsNation John Hollinger: Folks, thanks for all the great questions, but that's all the time I have. I'll be back here next Monday at 3, right after I get back from Houston.