The same sentiment is covertly vocalized by a Rockets faction — Yao Ming, Shane Battier, Luis Scola and Brent Barry — regarding Tracy McGrady, whose team is 18-7 lacking his suspicious services and 20-15 otherwise.

Then we have the Jazz, the league's sole tournament team starting four of its draftees — Deron Williams, Paul Millsap, Ronnie Brewer and C.J. Miles — in Carlos Boozer's 44-game absence; Utah remained in solid standing, nonetheless.

The 76ers' won-lost record, meanwhile, improved perceptibly (16-13) devoid of Elton Brand, whose presence translated into a 13-16 mark.

Next is Portland, whose toddlers minus tot Greg Oden competed evenly with all comers until late in the season and don't miss his 9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 22.9 minutes all that much since a chip in his left knee has kept him sidelined since Feb. 12.

In ninth place, 1½ games removed from playoff eligibility, the Shaq's step-Suns, all the same, remain in the hunt despite Amare Stoudemire's eye injury. They even clocked a major figure (the Lakers) at home and racked up 24 assists without Steve Nash's help.

Sunday also saw the Danny Granger/Mike Dunleavy-less Pacers upset the Nuggets. Then again, the Nuggets were bogged down by Melo Yellow.

Afterthought: To close my case against the diminishing returns of a select few franchise players, maximum-paid All-Stars, Olympians and official scorers, I'd just like to underline the impact of relatively undistinguished Jameer Nelson, the Magic's third or fourth offensive option. Under his direction, Orlando is 32-10. Without him the team is 11-6.

What's to prevent a licensed playoff team, you might be wondering, from claiming Drew Gooden or Joe Smith (bought out by the Kings and Thunder, respectively) off waivers, and thus prevent Team X & Y from signing them and gaining a championship edge?

Nothing.

However, a team must own sufficient cap room to do it, and 29 of 30 NBA clubs currently exceed the cap; 15-43 Memphis is $3.7M under it at $55M.

A common misconception needs to be cleared up:

1. When a buy-out takes place, the player actually doesn't reduce his salary. He agrees to reduce salary protection (guarantee), in exchange for being released. Stephon Marbury, for example, was due $20,840,625. He agreed to a confirmed $2.2M haircut. His salary remained the same but the guarantee was reduced to $18.6M and change, meaning the Knicks sliced their luxury tax by $4.4M.

2. If a team claims a contract on waivers, it gets the original contract, not a reduced contract.

FYI: Gooden's expiring salary is $7,151,183; the Kings saved $1.8M for liberating him. Smith's expiring salary is $4.795M; the Thunder saved his remaining guarantee.

Bottom line: No team has the money (or the inclination) to pick up either player off waivers; they become free agents within 48 hours.

Unconfirmed reports maintain Smith already has one of those wink-wink deals in place to rejoin the Cavs once he tiptoes across the waiver wire.

My sources assert the Lakers and Hornets — prepared to commit past this season to Smith — are giving the Cavs stiff competition. Cleveland also is in the running for Gooden, but someone in the know says he's leaning toward the Spurs over the Mavericks. Both will make their decision known today.