This is all very confusing.

We have gone through nearly a decade of shooting guards charading as point guards in the NBA, and now it seems the teams that have natural point guards need to move them and the teams on the cusp of competing for a title want them.

What's a general manager to do?

They've all seen what happened in Phoenix when coach Mike D'Antoni got a hold of Steve Nash late in his career and turned him into an MVP/Hall of Fame-caliber player. Now that's not to say it's going to happen to somebody else, but it also reflects what can happen to an instinctive, passing playmaker when he gets into the right system. It raises the play of everybody else.

And that is at the heart of why a group of teams led by the past two losers in the NBA Finals - the Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers - are in the market for a new point guard. You can throw the Houston Rockets into that mix, and perhaps the Denver Nuggets as well considering Chucky Atkins still hasn't played this season due to a groin strain. The Mavericks need somebody because coach Avery Johnson, a natural point guard himself, has had enough of Devin Harris and Jason Terry unable to run the floor consistently or properly. It's not their fault. It's not in their hearts.

It's even worse in Houston, where coach Rick Adelman allegedly has four point guards - Rafer Alston, Mike James, Luther Head and Steve Francis. None of them runs an offense for anyone but themselves. They just don't know how. The Miami Heat are looking for someone to remove the ballhandling burden from Dwyane Wade so he can run freely without the ball and the Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to do the same for LeBron James. And the Denver Nuggets apparently can't count on Chucky Atkins (groin injury) at all, and he's not all that dependable in the first place.

So where are they to turn if they're on the brink of success? Well, the list isn't extensive, but it certainly is solid.

As seems to be the case every 4-5 years, the passive-aggressive personality of Jason Kidd causes this future Hall of Famer to be halfway out the door.  It happened in Dallas where he was drafted, then in Phoenix and now in New Jersey. The problem is Nets owner Bruce Ratner reportedly wants to keep him, but when the 34-year-old Kidd's request for an extension past his 37th birthday was rejected, he began rumors that he wanted to play with James in Cleveland, similar to last year with Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. Heck, there's even a buzz that he wouldn't mind returning to Dallas if they'd have him. It all depends on whether or not Nets president Rod Thorn can talk Ratner into blowing up the roster. After all, New Jersey's not going anywhere with the high-priced trio of Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson - so why not see what he can get in return to build around a decent (if very young) crop of players.

But Kidd isn't the only point guard that could make a difference. The Philadelphia 76ers are going nowhere with tough veteran Andre Miller. The Sacramento Kings have looked good since acquiring Beno Udrih, so when expensive Mike Bibby (who was shopped last season) gets back soon from the torn ligament in his left thumb, count on Kings president Geoff Petrie being ready to deal Bibby to Miami or Cleveland.

And lastly, there is the case of Luke Ridnour, a lottery pick in 2003 by the Seattle Sonics who is a natural distributor with a feathery jump shot. Suns scouts believed him to be a comparable yet better prospect than Nash coming out of college. But after Ridnour helped drive the Sonics to Game 6 of the conference finals against the eventual champion Spurs in 2005, coach Nate McMillan left for Portland to start a run of four coaches in four seasons, moving Ridnour in and out of the lineup to his present decomposed state. But at 26, he's still young and is a perfect candidate to flourish somewhere else.

Perhaps none of those guys will be traded, but it certainly won't be from a lack of effort by the potential suitors. A team still can't win unless there is somebody making the right decisions consistently with the ball. And even then ... there is no guarantee.

Just look at the Nets Tuesday night, for example. Kidd had a skinny triple-double (11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds), and they lost at home to the Clippers for the first time in nearly 10 years. The Nets have lost eight of nine at home, and the point keeps coming back -- why pay those guys all that money if they can't win now? Get Kidd and perhaps one of the other guys out of there while they still have good value. 

• After missing six games with a sprained finger - all losses for the Cavaliers - LeBron James returned to the lineup Tuesday night and the Cavs rolled to a 13-point win over the Pacers. James had 17 points in less than 23 minutes, as the Cavs jumped the Pacers 37-16 in the opening quarter. But the interesting numbers in the game came from Larry Hughes, with 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting - clearly his most prolific game as a Cavalier since signing a $60 million contract three years ago.  With Anderson Varejao now in the fold - but threatening to leave in a couple of years -- there is little doubt general manager Danny Ferry has to be thinking deal before the trade deadline. And figuring out a deal for Kidd, Bibby, Miller or Ridnour makes far too much sense not to happen.
• While we're on the topic of successful returns from injury, Dwyane Wade has made it crystal clear he's back. And it's full throttle. He got progressively better as what began as a disastrous six-game road trip for the Heat (with four losses) ended on the upswing with wins at Los Angeles against the Clippers, then the big upset at Phoenix Monday night. Wade averaged 33 points and 8.8 assists in the final three games of the trip - including a tough loss at Golden State. Don't forget it's way too early to rule these guys out presuming Wade stays healthy and Shaquille O'Neal gets involved. Then again, the Heat are snooping around for a deal themselves, it's just difficult to fathom what they have to offer another team in the way of value for the high-quality player they're seeking.
• Kenyon Martin continues his road to recovering from a second microfracture surgery on the other knee this time, with the Denver Nuggets forward the gaudy stat-stuffer in Saturday's win over Sacramento - contributing 20 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 steals in 38 minutes. Was it a breakthrough game for K-Mart, proving he's still got All-Star capability? Well, it was for that one night and verifies what we already knew -- this guy is as intense a competitor as anybody in the game. Sure, he's overpaid with a maximum contract in the literal sense. But he's laying it all out on the floor every night, so perhaps a maximum-effort guy really is worthy of a maximum contract, even if he is constantly fighting back from injuries.