Kaman trade?

There was quite a buzz around Clippers camp this morning regarding a report out of New York linking the Clippers to trade talks with the Charlotte Bobcats. According the report, Charlotte and the Clippers had discussed a trade involving Chris Kaman, but that ``Charlotte has no one of consequence Los Angeles desires. (Gerald) Wallace has no appeal.''

It's very easy for that kind of thing to be repeated as a Chris Kaman for Gerald Wallace deal, which would be inaccurate. But that's not what the author wrote. What he wrote is actually fairly accurate.

The real story is that Charlotte called, said they liked Kaman, the Clippers listened --as NBA teams always do --and asked what the Bobcats would offer in return. They didn't really like any of the pieces the Bobcats had or could offer, and the talks died.

Or, as coach and GM Mike Dunleavy put it:

``Everybody who understands the NBA understands it's a dance. Somebody calls somebody: `Hey, how are you?' .. `I'm doing good, how you doing?' .. `Hey look, you guys interested in doing anything?' ... `Yeah, of course I'm interested, what are you doing?' ... `Here are the guys on your team I like. Who are the guys on my team you like?'

``That's how the dance begins. Well, if anybody's name pops up off of somebody's ``likes' list'' that are mutual, then you start get a little bit closer on your dancing. You start with with your freestyle and all of sudden it's cheek-to-cheek. That's the way deals get done.

``This one started out by somebody saying I like your guy, oh, you don't want to dance with me? They got the rejection and they threw it out, `Hey I almost had a dance with somebody.' ''

Would the Clippers ever entertain trading Kaman? Sure, but it would take a lot. As one team source told me, ``A 7-footer who can rebound, defend, score and block shots who comes at a good price? Those guys don't get traded very often because there are very few around. If you were to trade one, it'd be hard to replace.''

Also, the Clippers aren't really looking to make any deals until the team starts to come together around Baron Davis. After 15 or 20 games, when it becomes more clear what's working and what's not, they might be more open to such discussions, or dancing ``cheek-to-cheek.''