Hypothetical situation: If you were an NBA star, and your agent all of a sudden became the assistant GM of your team, it would be weird and freak everyone out, right? Like, this is something we expect from Michael Beasley, or was written into the tarot cards that DaJuan Wagner never got to cash.

Back to reality: It is happening. But the personalities involved are totally non-controversial: Kevin Martin, the Petrie-helmed Kings front office and a team that's hardly synonymous with shady. Oh, and agent Jason Levien isn't exactly among the ranks of pure evil. And, as Sactown Royalty notes, Levien isn't doing it for the money, or the glory of his clients -- since this front office position means he'll have to relinquish all agent-ly duties:

He's giving up all that -- potentially millions of dollars -- for a job that pays a few hundred thousand dollars tops. This is a huge deal for Levien and his family. This is a huge deal for the Kings, who are making a statement with this move. (And yeah, as Kfan noted, this is a big deal for Martin, too, even if on appearances.)

Levien is not trifling around by taking this job (if it does come to pass -- everything seems a bit based on innuendo in Sam Amick's piece with neither side confirming). I can only assume Levien would feel he's in line for succession.

So instead of this being one of those "slimeball rides star's coattails to prominence in the league," this might be the opposite: Agent reps a slept-on, uber-effective talent because he sees something there. Sure, he's made money off of Martin, but more importantly, he had the foresight to look there. We aren't used to agent-as-scout, but there's something to it.

And yeah, expect Martin to become even more the man in Sactown. However, pretty much everyone with a brain and League Pass knows that should be the case.

The latest reports on the Al Harrington deal that we discussed here about an hour ago: It's Jamal Crawford for Harrington, not Malik Rose. That's kind of a shocker. Crawford's been especially potent for D'Antoni, arguably playing the best ball of his career and, after a rocky beginning, has really gotten it. But Harrington's deal expires in 2010, while Crawford's on the books til 2011. The Knicks cap situation is a mess because they're so far over; however, this can finally free up the max money they need to do ... well, you know what they'd like to do. Bottom line: This deal is about the future, not this season.

As for the Warriors, who knows what this means for them. I guess between Crawford and Monta (once he's back) you have one total point guard. Or, to look at it another way, a guard rotation of Monta, Crawford, and upstart Anthony Morrow is potent and allows C.J. Watson to return to the bench. This being Don Nelson, though, it's anyone's guess what will happen. One thing's for sure: If these two offensive gurus have any sort of super-secret bet over whose team will lead the league in scoring, Golden State just pulled way, way ahead.

I'd actually forgotten that Al Harrington was still a Warrior, seeing as Corey Maggette is currently starting at power forward there. It's getting pretty Colonel Kurtz up in the Oracle, if you hadn't heard. But apparently he's just hurt, and is set -- maybe even before you finish this sentence -- to finally be headed to the Knicks.

From the New York Post:

Donnie Walsh is set to pull the trigger on his first substantive move as Knicks New York Knicks president, The New York Post has learned.

Knicks sources said a deal for Al Harrington was to go through late yesterday, but was delayed until today. A league conference call is scheduled for this morning that would bring the disgruntled Warriors forward to the Knicks, presumably for Malik Rose.

Malik Rose doesn't really seem like a Don Nelson kind of guy, especially since they just signed Rony Turiaf and are into playing youngster Brandan Wright. So maybe he's just there to spread his excellent cheese steak franchise to the West Coast. I can only hope that Nellie hasn't suddenly been hit with a rare form of oxygen deprivation that makes a man's brain normal again, because I'm enjoying Golden State way too much.

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Let me repeat this handy little meme for OKC fans, David Stern, Clay Bennett, and everyone else who swore that moving the Sonics made good sense: There's no Chris Paul. Say it like at the end of The Usual Suspects. The Hornets weren't just some itinerant team who showed up, found a home, and learned to depend on the quasi-home crowds as much as the crowds embraced them. This was a team on its way up in the perilous West, with a perennial MVP candidate who only a blind and dead man wouldn't drop everything to watch.

Kevin Durant is a unique player, but he's still finding himself. And with a sucky coach, pock-marked roster, and lack of any direction other than playing hard with discipline, there's zero inspiration come to Oklahoma City with these Thunder. Thus, it pains me to report, as reported in The Oklahoman:

With 2:50 remaining in the third quarter Wednesday night, Thunder fans no longer could contain their frustration.

So they did the unthinkable.

They booed.

For two full seasons while hosting the displaced Hornets, local NBA fans never booed the home team.

I kept all the line breaks for poetic justice, and I rest my case. Bennett ruined the team to push away Seattle fans -- a team that wasn't so hot to begin with. So Durant or no Durant, this is a crap product. It's actually an insult to his fellow Okies that Clay assumed this wouldn't be an issue. But that's not my business. I'm still excited from having found out last night -- really belatedly -- that Aubrey McClendon lost close to $2 billion in the recent financial collapse.

So yeah guys, just keep thinking you pulled a fast one on Seattle. I'm hoping that, between the individual fortunes of the owners dwindling fast, and the team fading into nothingness darn soon, the Sonics will return just in time for Durant to sign with the Knicks.

You're just not used to hearing much about the Charlotte Bobcats, despite my best efforts to get Gerald Wallace prematurely elected into the Hall of Fame. So imagine my surprise when today's rumor pages revealed a veritable firestorm of hot, sexy, tremulous, eve-of-destruction Bobcats rumors.

Come on down, Newark Star-Ledger:

The Nets continue to be in trade discussions with Charlotte, which is desperate for frontcourt help, but they don't have the expendable post player Larry Brown wants. The Bobcats are willing to part with Gerald Wallace for a player of consequence, but are more actively pushing Matt Carroll or Adam Morrison, mindful that the Nets are shooter-crazy these days.

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