The New York Post is floating a rumor that the Clippers are entertaining offers for their starting center, Chris Kaman.

As The Orange County Register’s former Clippers beat writer for 10 years, until my job assignment was changed this past summer, I find that rumor rather far fetching.

Here’s why - having covered the league for over a decade I know that NBA general managers talk with other general managers on a regular basis and typically toss out what-if type trade scenarios. Such as, if we did this, would you do that?

Having said that, it is possible that Clippers combo coach and general manager Mike Dunleavy could have mentioned Kaman’s name when talking about a proposed trade deal. As Dunleavy has told me constantly throughout his five-plus years with the organization, “We’re always looking for ways to improve the team.”

But if the Clippers did trade Kaman, what would they do about their center position?  One theory posed by The Post was that Marcus Camby could be the primary post player. Currently, the Clippers are playing the seven-foot Kaman at center and the 6-11 Camby at power forward, giving the team a twins towers look on the front line.

But while Camby is a superior defensive over Kaman, Camby is nowhere near the offensive player that Kaman is. Camby would not command a defensive double-team if he received the ball down on the block and besides, he is more comfortable shooting mid-range jump shots from straightaway, than he is in executing post moves.

Not to mention that Camby is 34 years old, eight years older than Kaman.

One name that was mentioned as a possible replacement for Kaman was New York Knicks center Zach Randolph.

 Dunleavy always has admired Randolph’s versatile offensive game but that certainly would not be enough to essentially swap Kaman for the 27-year old Randolph, who is a superior scorer but not better rebounder and is three inches shorter than than the Clippers’ center.

Randolph has three years and $48 million remaining on his contract.  

Also ponder this, although former Clippers vice president of basketball operations Elgin Baylor and his staff scouted and selected Kaman sixth overall in the 2003 draft, a month before Dunleavy was hired as the coach, Kaman worked out privately for Dunleavy in Chicago weeks before the draft.

Dunleavy said that one of his stipulations upon being hired as the Clippers’ head coach was that they agree to draft Kaman, whom Dunleavy made a fulltime starter his rookie season.

 Dunleavy has felt so protective of Kaman that before Dunleavy finalized the details of the contract extension he received from the Clippers, he insisted that the organization extend Kaman’s contract. Kaman has four years and $43 million still remaining.

Dunleavy said Tuesday afternoon that he had not spoken with anyone in the Knicks’ organization nor had he spoken with Charlotte coach Larry Brown, who has been trying to trade forward Gerald Wallace and probably would be open to a three-way deal involving the Bobcats, Clippers and the Knicks.

Dunleavy humorously compared talks between team representatives with dancing, stating that at first it’s just free styling but when the talks get more serious, Dunleavy said that all of a sudden it becomes cheek-to-cheek.

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