As predicted in this space last week, Chris Kaman is headed to Dallas…

As an All-Star reserve and not, as I predicted, to join the Dallas Mavericks.

Kaman was added to the Western Conference roster as a replacement for Portland’s Brandon Roy, who will miss the game due to an injury to his hamstring.

Kaman’s addition to the team means the Clippers will now be represented by three people in at least three events for the weekend: Kaman in Sunday’s game; Eric Gordon in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge and in the “Dunk-In,” where he will compete against Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan Friday night to earn a right to compete in Saturday night’s Dunk Contest; and by Brent Barry in the “Shooting Stars” competition as part of Team Los Angeles. Barry won the 1996 Slam Dunk Championship as a member of the Clippers. The winning dunk can be seen here.

Kaman’s addition to the team also means new full-time GM Mike Dunleavy Sr. will be able to add the term “All-Star” in front of Kaman’s name when he’s negotiating with rival GMs in the days leading up to the NBA’s trade deadline.

Came home from work and turned on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption to catch Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon discuss yesterday’s Super Bowl. Wilbon echoed what I was thinking last night, saying, “for most of this team’s history, the Saints were the Cubs or the Clippers.”

Now, I’m not delusional to think that the Saints victory will inspire all the underdogs throughout the professional and amateur sports ranks into thinking they can instantly become contenders, but there may be reason to think that, given certain conditions and developments, what seem to be insurmountable odds may in fact not be so daunting.

The Saints were turned around when they brought in a new coach, Sean Payton, and a marquee quarterback, Drew Brees, before the 2006 season.

The Clippers are likely to find themselves in a similar position this summer, as they’ll almost certainly be looking to add both a new head coach and a marquee free agent.

It may seem impossible now, but I’d be willing to bet Saints fans would have thought their current situation unlikely a few years ago.

All bets are off now that Dunleavy has stepped down as coach to focus his attention on front office responsibilities. The only players on the Clippers’ roster who I’d think are “untouchable” are Baron Davis, Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin. Those are the young guys Dunleavy wisely built cap space around and they’re the ones who are going to have to be part of this thing if it’s going to turn around next year.

With that in mind, here are a couple of trade ideas that could make the Clippers more competitive this year and more financially flexible in the future.

Clippers trade Chris Kaman and trade exception of Zach Randolph to Dallas Mavericks for Josh Howard and Tim Thomas.

Why it makes sense for the Clippers: The Clippers unload Chris Kaman and the three years remaining on his contract at the height of his productivity. Kaman has been among the main guys mentioned as an All-Star snub and he’s averaging 20 and 9 right now. They’re never going to get better value for him. The addition of Howard gives them a guy who can play multiple positions and who can run the floor in the Kim Hughes-inspired up-tempo offense I’m hoping for. Thomas gives them a big who can come off the bench and matches up well with most other bigs. The fact that they both have deals that are set to expire this summer is an added bonus, as they’ll be playing for big-money contracts this year. Or at least Howard will be, Thomas will just be playing for a contract.

Why it makes sense for the Mavericks: The Mavs have decided, for better or worse, that they’re going to be a team that prefers to play in half-court sets and they currently lack the big man with offensive game enough to let that style suit them. They’re not averse to spending money and have to feel like Jason Kidd’s window to be a championship-caliber point guard is getting smaller each year. They can make a serious run if they could add a big who’s able to score from outside the paint and one who can move the ball effectively.

Why it won’t happen: It may be too little to get in return for Kaman, who’s going to be a valuable chip until the deadline and then again this summer if he continues the season at his current pace. If they were to do this deal and saw the main benefit as being cap space for this summer, they’d have to be extremely confident in their ability to lure a big-name free agent to L.A. this summer. Not sure even Dunleavy is that delusional. By the way, I think the Mavs make this deal in a heartbeat.

The Clippers host the Spurs tonight in the first game of the Kim Hughes Era. Hughes will be the team’s head coach the remainder of the season and his first game is going to be a challenge.

The Clippers expect to turn Baron Davis loose tonight, as one of Hughes’ initial comments was regarding him wanting to let Baron be more creative than he was allowed to be in former head coach Mike Dunleavy’s half-court sets.

There’s going to be a learning curve as the Baron learns who can keep up with the up-tempo game he likes to play. I expect Eric Gordon and Rasual Bulter’s point totals to go up, as both have the athleticism and wherewithal to keep pace with Baron. I also expect Baron’s field-goal attempts to go up from his current 14 per game average.

Beyond that, I really don’t know what to expect. The Spurs play good defense and control the ball on offense, thereby limiting the Clippers’ touches. The Clippers are going to need Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman to crash the boards defensively and will need to capitalize on fast-break opportunities to limit the Spurs’ defensive effectiveness. This is where Al Thornton has a chance to increase his playing time (and perhaps his trade value), as he has the requisite athleticism to keep up with an increased pace, but it’s yet to be seen if he has the basketball acumen to do so.

Six hours ago, my car broke down on the side of the freeway (something about the oil pressure). A creepy tow-truck driver and a rental Dodge Caravan later, I got home, checked my phone and saw that Mike Dunleavy Sr. had stepped down as the Head Coach of the Los Angeles Clippers.

So what I’m trying to say is that my shitty afternoon quickly turned into a pleasant evening.

I’ve mentioned it in this space before, but a delusional optimism is simultaneously the best and worst thing a Clippers’ fan has going for them. On the one hand, delusion-fueled optimism allows us to think that we’re following a team that is actually capable of turning the proverbial corner and doing something franchise-altering that will lead to success. On the other hand, well, that’s probably never going to happen.

But now, thanks to Dunleavy’s removal, we have reason to be optimistic and – and this is where we could be hanging ourselves – it gives us reason to be patient. As in, “well, let’s just see how this season plays out. We just got rid of Dunleavy, let’s see how the team responds to the new scheme.”  Double-edged swords are usually still sharp on both sides.

Dunleavy has been the Clippers’ head coach since 2003 and helped lead the team to its best-ever record in 2005-2006, when the team won 47 games. He is also the franchise leader in wins, with 215.

That said, this Clipper team had obviously tuned out Dunleavy, to the point where it was aggravating when the television cameras would NOT show the coach/player interactions during timeouts. Watching Baron and Chris Kaman watch the dancers on the court while Dunleavy drew up a play was particularly entertaining.

The fact that Dunleavy is staying on will as GM means the team should be active in the trade market in these next two weeks and possibly even in trying to attract a big-name free agent to the team when this summer’s free agent bonanza hits.

Baron Davis came to L.A. to be a star and Dunleavy’s coaching philosophy (and Baron’s physical shape last season) prevented him from doing that. Baron is well-liked in NBA circles and will likely be recruiting players to come join him and a young nucleus in L.A. next year.  And will likely be lobbying for a coach who trusts their point guard to push the ball to come coach that young nucleus.

Assistant coach Kim Hughes being named the head coach is surprising, as I always imagined John Lucas would take over if Dunleavy left. And while I thought of it often, I never actually thought it would happen.

But tonight it did happen, and my optimism is renewed. For better and for worse.