West Beefing Up

With the reports tonight of Shaq being traded for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks [a horrible contract that the Suns made 2 years ago], pending a physical that Shaq will take early Wednesday morning, the Western Conference is better than ever. Especially considering Pau Gasol making his debut Tuesday night and scoring 24 and pulling 12 after being dealt from Memphis last week to the Lakers for a pu-pu platter.

I know most of you don't follow the NBA [with the exception of Jimbo, occasionally], but bear with me. With the Mavericks losing out on the Shaq talks, they will most definitely trade for Jason Kidd in the following weeks. The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 21, and Kidd has repeatedly asked to be traded out of New Jersey.

In the next few weeks, mark my words that you'll see a trade of one Dallas PG [either Devin Harris or Jason Terry, probably Harris due to his youth and "upside"], Eddie Jones [expiring deal], and Erick Dampier OR a sign and trade with another contract guy they have, plus 1 or 2 1st round draft picks. The Nets are stubborn... so they could hold onto Kidd for another year. And I couldn't find a better deal on the ESPN NBA Trade Machine that works between those 2 teams. But bottom line is, I'd be surprised if Kidd isn't dealt by the deadline.