Forward Zach Randolph has three years and $48 million remaining on his contract. Manny Millan/SI

MAILBAG Ian Thomsen will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

2. I keep hearing the Knicks need to unload Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph to clear cap space, but why would any sane GM take either of those guys and their blotted contracts? I doubt any team is looking to do them any favors.
-- Cameron, West Covina, Calif.

Players can always be traded. The huge contracts of Larry Hughes, Ben Wallace, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Shawn Marion, Pau Gasol and Shaquille O'Neal were all traded before the February deadline. The Mavericks found a way to trade Keith Van Horn and award him $4.2 million in the process, and he wasn't even playing. There was a time when Juwan Howard was seen as the most overpaid player in the league, and his contract was moved more than once.

The key for New York will be to raise the value of one or both players before trading them. The best example of this came when Portland temporarily salvaged the career of Isaiah Rider before unloading him in 1999 to Atlanta, where he destroyed the Hawks like a worm virus eating through a computer network. The Blazers received Steve Smith, who helped lead them to the conference finals.

1. Um, what year is your advance scout looking at when he debates Chris Paul for MVP? The Cavs went 0-6 (not 6-2) without LeBron James in the lineup this year, which would seem to invalidate every prior word he made in regards to the Cavs being competitive without LeBron in comparison to the Hornets without Paul. If that's the knowledge of an advance scout, I fear for the team he works for.
-- Jonathan, Queens, N.Y.

That one is my fault. I was interviewing the scout by phone while he was boarding an airplane. I could hear him handing his boarding pass at the gate and squeezing down the aisle and trying to place his luggage in the overhead bin all the while he was talking to me, nice guy that he is. That misstatement about James' value was one sentence in the middle of a 10-minute conversation, and I could tell he was distracted at that moment. I made a note to myself to ignore that bit of erroneous information -- then by accident I included it in the final copy.

Now somebody is going to write back and say that I shouldn't be depending on information from people when they can't give their full attention. The truth is, everybody is so busy that you take conversations when you can get them. I've talked to players while they wore headphones or were playing video games. I've talked to coaches on their cell phones while they were driving. This is one of the top scouts in the league and he was trying to do three things at once, and the fault was mine for not properly editing out his mistake in a rare moment of confusion.

2 Vastly Different teams

2. All-Matt Geiger Team. In honor of the former Philadelphia center, who played 154 games for the 76ers after they signed him to a six-year, $48 million contract in 1999. Geiger retired because of degenerative arthritis in both knees. These players didn't play a minute for these teams this year, but their salaries remained on the salary-cap books because they negotiated buyouts or they were waived outright as part of the 2005 luxury-tax amnesty.

C Adonal Foyle, Warriors $5,765,397 (buyout)
F Chris Webber, 76ers $18,015,556 (buyout)
F Jerome Williams, Knicks $7,639,400 (amnesty)
G Michael Finley, Mavericks $17,363,124 (amnesty)
G Steve Francis, Trail Blazers $13,300,333 (buyout)
Total: $62,083,810

1. All-Grant Hill team. In honor of the Phoenix forward, who at $1.8 million is one of the best bargains in the league this season.

So I wondered: Could I assemble a reputable lineup for less than the Suns are paying Hill? I did -- thanks to inexpensive midseason signings and rookie contracts for non-first-rounders. The savior was Brent Barry's return to San Antonio on a short-term deal after being waived by the Sonics.

C Theo Ratliff, Pistons $199,452
F Paul Millsap, Jazz $687,456
F Jamario Moon, Raptors $427,163
G Brent Barry, Spurs $179,351
G Sam Cassell, Celtics $203,985
Total: $1,697,407

1 Costly comparison

1. The Rich vs The Poor. In this league you don't necessarily get what you pay for ...

Here are the five most expensive payrolls this season and the anticipated win total for each of those teams.

5. Miami Heat, $75.5 million, 14 wins
4. Cleveland Cavaliers, $81.5 million, 45 wins
3. Denver Nuggets $82.7 million, 50 wins
2. New York Knicks $95.3 million, 22 wins
1. Dallas Mavericks $105.4 million, 51 wins
Averages: $88.1 million, 36.4 wins

Here are the five least expensive payrolls this season and the anticipated win total for each of those teams.

30. Memphis Grizzlies, $53.4 million, 21 wins
29. Charlotte Bobcats, $54.2 million, 31 wins
28. Atlanta Hawks, $56.0 million, 38 wins
27. Orlando Magic, $58.1 million, 51 wins
26. Golden State Warriors, $59.3 million, 50 wins
Averages: $56.2 million, 38.2 wins