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Earlier today, my colleague Nate Jones hit you with his thoughts on future Hall of Fame point guards. Jones makes a strong case for Kidd over Nash, but concedes that Nash is the best at the position this season.

Hold up there. Sam Smith also has all-timers on his mind, and toward the end of his column drops the following factoid:

Despite a public divorce and trade rumors, Kidd, 34, is having a brilliant season and could become the third player along with Oscar Roberston and Magic Johnson to average at least 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

Are you serious? Sure, it's not a triple-double on the year, but that is absolutely ridiculous. And while it's less symmetrical than, say, 14/9/9, Kidd's a point guard. Cut him a little slack. I've got a running bet that, at some point, LeBron will average a 3X2 for a season. I made it because I was sure that James was destined for top-five status; maybe instead, I should be looking to elevate Kidd way up in my point guard power rankings. He doesn't deserve MVP consideration, but this feat would more and more impressive with time--once we've stopped taking Kidd for granted.

So far, Michael Jordan's tenure with the Bobcats has been a disappointment. His role has never been clear. He's been fined for commenting on Durant, criticized for his exclusive access to high school stars, and attempted to whitewash the job he did in the Wizards' front office. But at least you couldn't say he's actively gotten in the way.

Until now, that is. With Vince Carter likely to opt out of his contract this summer, and Bobcats in desperate need of a scorer, Charlotte should be a likely destination. Factor in his affinity for the state of North Carolina and the franchise's ample cap space, and this might as well be a done deal.

There's one problem, though: bad blood between Jordan and Vince. From Rick Bonnell's Inside the NBA:

Vince Carter was pretty chilly Saturday night, when I asked him how he'd react if Michael Jordan recruits him in free agency this summer.

"I doubt that he would," Carter replied, and you could almost see his breath for the frigid tone.

In case you've forgotten, once upon a time Jordan criticized Carter's lack of defense. MJ is notoriously frank, and Vince incredibly sensitive. With Bonnell claiming that "it was clear from his remark Saturday that Carter is still wounded by Jordan's shot," we'll see if Jordan actually ends up hurting the Bobcats with his presence.

Rod Thorn (sorry, Rod, we'll get 'em next year) gave Lawrence Frank a pretty strong vote of confidence (though I suppose those things are never too strong) yesterday. Addressing Frank's job status, Thorn had this to say, via the New York Post:

"Lawrence is doing fine," Thorn said. "There's still a long way to go in this season and he's doing everything he can to get us in (the playoffs). But we have put ourselves in a tenuous situation."

Thorn clearly stressed that if the Nets do not reach the playoffs, it would have "no impact" on the decision whether Frank returns.

No impact? Well, then what would have an impact? If you're in the Eastern Conference, and you don't make the playoffs ... forgive my bluntness, but you suck. You really suck. If you can't crack the Top 8 in the East, you better be in rebuilding mode.

The Nets are not. They're in the East, with two superstar players ... how do they not make the playoffs? I know Jefferson and Krstic have been injured, I know that they start Mikki Moore, but again ... it's the East. If you have Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and a few warm bodies, you should be making the playoffs. I don't think that's asking too much. At the very least, the Nets shouldn't be as boring as they are.

By now it almost seems like a foregone conclusion that the Nets will make a major trade by Thursday's trading deadline, likely moving Jason Kidd or Vince Carter. The Kidd rumors (is he going to the Lakers? the Warriors?) seem to have more legs, perhaps in part because Carter has the option of becoming a free agent at the end of the season. That said, at least one team has been linked to Carter, and that's the Orlando Magic. From the Chicago Tribune:

The Nets seem on the verge of a breakup with Vince Carter eligible to be a free agent after this season. The Magic has been hiding in the weeds as a potential destination for Carter with Grant Hill's expiring big contract and several expendable young players such as Darko Milicic, J.J. Redick and perhaps Hedo Turkoglu.

"I've heard the talk," said Tracy McGrady, Carter's cousin who used to play for the Magic. "I don't know what he really wants to do. But he's built a house down there, he grew up 25-30 miles away from there."

Teaming Carter with Dwight Howard "would make them a great contender in the East for years to come," McGrady said.

With Hill's contract coming off the books this summer, the Magic have the option to pursue a big money free agent or re-sign restricted free agent Darko Milicic -- but probably not both. (It's hard to put a finger on Darko's value, but he's 7-feet tall and just 21 years old -- despite his "bust" status as the No. 2 pick of the vaunted 2003 draft, he should easily garner at least $8 million a year from some NBA team this summer.) If the Magic were thinking about going after Carter this summer, they may as well give up Darko now since they won't be able to afford him later.

Chris Bosh went to the free throw line Tuesday night in a home game against the Raptors, and the home crowd serenaded him with an "M-V-P!" chant. Vince Carter, bent over at the free throw line, "openly mocked" the chant.

This Toronto Star article doesn't specify exactly what Carter did or said, which leads me to believe it was profane in nature, and that leads me to believe it was something that rhymed with "Wool Zit."

I find that amusing. If you choose to look at it from this standpoint, Vince is right. The notion of Chris Bosh actually winning the MVP award this year ... well, that's absurd. The Top 5, I'd give you (actually, I wouldn't give you that, but Skeets would), but winning it? I don't think so.

But that's not really the issue. The issue is that Vince is feeling unappreciated by the people of Toronto, and that he's a little resentful, jealous, and perhaps bitter, that they're embracing Chris Bosh like they never embraced him.

Vince laughed it off after the game, and said he was just having fun with the fans, but you know, those feelings come from somewhere. It's not like he was at the free throw line thinking, "I should pretend to feel a way that I don't really feel in order to have fun with the fans." No. He feels that way.

And I bet Raptor fans collectively feel just terrible about that.

A quick look back at Thursday night's action...

The Rock Remix. Even though the Bulls blew an early 17-point lead, the Mavericks forgot how to shoot the basketball just long enough to lose, 96-85 in Chicago. Mavs' superstars Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard combined to shoot -- you ready for this? -- 11-for-42 from the floor. Yeah, that's like, 2%. Ben Gordon scored 30 points for Chicago and Luol Deng added 21. With the loss, the Mavericks record now falls to a very mediocre 35-9. I can hear the ping-pong balls now!

What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted? I'm not sure, but keep an eye on the New Jersey Nets. Cuttino Mobley nailed a hard, masculine 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left to give the Los Angeles Clippers a 102-101 victory over New Jersey last night. The loss was the Nets third straight one-point defeat this week. On Monday, they lost at Sacramento thanks to a Mike Bibby late game jumper, and on Wednesday, they lost at the buzzer to a 17-footer by Golden State's Monta Ellis. Rough stretch. Vince Carter scored 33 points despite rolling his left ankle in the third. For more on this game and an excellent discussion about intelligent NBA'ers, check out MJD and Shoals' live-blog.

Adding Insult To (Near) Injury. Gilbert Arenas blew by Vince in the final days of All-Star voting to claim the second Eastern Conference guard spot yesterday. Arenas was 214,460 votes behind Carter two weeks ago, but finished with 1,454,166 to Carter's 1,451,156 -- the fourth-closest margin for a starting spot in history. As for the rest of the starters...

If You Start Them Up... Out East, Arenas will be joined by Wade, LeBron, Bosh and Shaq Daddy. While out West, Kobe, McGrady, Duncan, Garnett and Yao get the love. Of course, Yao, still recovering from a broken leg, said he'll miss the game, so I'm hoping hard West coach Mike D'Antoni starts Nash at center.

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