1. L.A. Clippers get Baron Davis ($3.2 million per season, expires in 2003) and Jerome Moiso (cap fodder); Charlotte gets Lamar Odom ($2.8m/2003), Corey Maggette ($1.4m/2004) and Jeff McInnis ($0.6m/2002).


Baron Davis would be the ideal floor leader for the young Clippers.
On paper, it seems like L.A. gives up too much here, but there's no way Charlotte would deal Davis unless you bowled them over with an offer. And since L.A. has too many young guys who need minutes, why not overpay for one of the best young guards in the league? You'd rather overpay for quality, right?

Lots to like about this one: Davis returns home to L.A. ... Charlotte immediately becomes one of the deepest teams in the league (Wesley, Odom, Mashburn, Campbell and Brown as starters, with McInnis, Nailon, Maggette and Lynch off the bench) ... the mere thought of Odom playing in New Orleans next season (the comedy potential is off the charts there) ... the Clippers featuring a potent starting five of Olowokandi, Brand, Miles, Richardson and Davis, as well as a bonafide crunch-time guy in Davis (they don't have one right now) ... and Davis already feels comfortable playing with a headband.

2. Toronto gets Rashard Lewis ($4.4m/2003); Seattle gets Keon Clark ($1.9m/2002), Mo Peterson (0.97m/2004) and Dell Curry (cap fodder to make the trade work).

Seattle replaces Lewis with Mo-Pete and Desmond Mason (a downgrade, but not an overwhelming one); more importantly, Clark gives them a much-needed frontcourt boost. There isn't a more underrated player in the league right now than Keon Clark. I'm not kidding. I keep writing this and nobody listens to me -- if he played 40 minutes a game, he'd be a 20/10 guy, night after night. Mark my words. And it's all done on two toothpick legs. Does anyone on the planet have skinnier legs than Keon Clark? Anyway, the Sonics need to shoot 50 percent or higher to beat anyone good, because they can't crash the offensive boards or grab a big rebound when it matters. Clark would change that.


Keon Clark is just the type of inside presence that the Sonics could use.
As for the Raptors, Clark is expendable because a.) they still have Hakeem, Antonio Davis and Jerome Williams, and b.) he's a free agent after the season (and they're already over the $53 million mark, with Vince's contract kicking in next July). More importantly, they need another scorer who can take pressure off Vince (the Raptors play too many games where Vince scores 35 and the next highest guy has 11). Lewis isn't aggressive enough and hates going inside; on Toronto, he could hang outside and feast on those open 3s that Vince creates. Perfect team for him. I'm a genius.

3. New York gets Alonzo Mourning ($18.8m/2003), Chris Gatling ($2.5m/2004) and a 2002 No. 1 pick; Miami gets Marcus Camby ($6.25m/2005), Latrell Sprewell ($11.3m/2005) and Travis Knight ($3.6m/2005).

Why not? The league's two most loathsome, TV-unfriendly teams join forces and play mix-and-match -- Miami upgrades its roster and becomes a viable threat to make the playoffs, while the Knicks shake things up, roll the dice with Mourning's health problems and weasel out of two mammoth contracts that don't expire until 2005. I tossed in Gatling only because he hasn't played for the Knicks yet, and it's a little-known league rule that he needs to change teams twice per season.