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.

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.