NEW YORK -- Jimmy Jackson got the call yesterday he didn't want to hear, and had no idea was coming.

As the journeyman swingman was preparing to join his Rocket teammates on the team charter to Milwaukee for Tuesday night's game, VP Carroll Dawson informed him he had been traded along with Bostjan Nachbar to New Orleans for David Wesley.

Just like that; Jackson, who appeared finally to have found a home in Houston, went from a 13-14 counterfeit contender -- until it stops losing home games to the likes of the expansionist Bobcats, their lone road win -- to lower than whale waste.

The 2-23 Hornets are on course to surpass the '72-73 (9-73) 76ers as the lousiest team in NBA history. For now, they're Jackson's 11th employer in 12 1/3 increasingly depressing seasons.

OK, I understand why the Hornets made the trade, not for Jackson, that's for sure, despite his starting status and ability to down shots.

Having already free-fallen out of the standings (they're hoping an arbitrator and a judge will allow them back in the league), GM Alan Bristow and Byron Scott are looking to luck into an untapped resource.

In his third season, nobody knows whether or not Nachbar, picked No. 15 in the 2002 draft, can play at this level.

On the other hand, it's beyond comprehension what Dawson and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy are thinking?

Acquiring Wesley, 34, isn't as irrelevant as the Mavericks swapping Dan Dickau (again, at least the Hornets got potential) for dead end Darrell Armstrong, but it's not much better.

Whereas Armstrong took minutes away from Jason Terry and Devin Harris (before Don Nelson came out of his coma), Wesley will take shots away from Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. Maybe even Hakeem.

Like Armstrong, Wesley doesn't loosely qualify as a pure point guard. Wherever he's roamed he's been a shoot-first, pass-as-a-last-resort type guard.

Meanwhile, Jackson's a deadlier shooter. Moreover, Wesley doesn't give it up.

I'll say!

He wouldn't even make a pass at Kobe's wife.

If Wesley's arrival in Van Gundy's starting backcourt isn't opaque enough, this is the worst he's played since the bad old days in New Jersey and Boston, his first two pro seasons.

Yeah, his poor play certainly could have something to do with the injury riddled Hornets' harsh conditions. But you would think a $4.6 million salary ($4.9 million next season) would be enough inspiration to rise above the squalor.

If a paycheck isn't enough, how about simply showing some old-fashioned pride?

Not to say Wesley, even in his current state of disrepute, isn't an improvement on what the Rockets have on playmaking patrol.

On second thought, I will say it; at best, he's a Bob Sura clone and substantially superior to Charlie Ward, whose game is so shabby four houses of worship refused him sanctuary.

These are the two pointless guards management chose to sign last summer as free agents to "complement" Tyronn Lue, exchanged last week for Jon Barry -- whose poisonous attitude and bad mouthing of coaches when not playing has led to his last three change of addresses.

Just wondering: Has Kobe Bryant's popularity in Los Angeles reached that of the Olympics in New York?

Before dropping the sapped subject of Kobe for the day, let us rewind to his Christmas Day last-second, three-point OT upchuck.

With Shaquille O'Neal out and Kobe guarded by almost everyone in Miami, you think it might have dawned on Heir Jordan to initiate contact and get to the line (only down two points), or try to find an open teammate?

You know, the same guys "giving ME 110 percent."

As I recall, that Michael Jordan guy often used to function as a late-game decoy with a modicum of success.

Nice warm and fuzzy piece about Shaq passing out holiday gifts to L.A. kids.

Interesting how philanthropic these guys (see Richard Jefferson, Derek Jeter, etc.) can be when cameras are tracking every magnanimous move. Publicizing their charity work (unless it's fund raising) and seeking recognition for all to see makes me seriously question their motives.

Oh yeah, at last count, Shaq had bought more toys for children than anyone in California not living at Neverland.

Far be it for me to suggest that Shaq's pre-game greeting to Kobe lacked sincerity, but I'm thinking there's more believability in Robert Blake's alibi.

After Minnesota slapped a season-worst, 35-point whipping on the Wizards, President Bush called Washington coach Eddie Jordan to say he hadn't seen anyone as clueless about defense in D.C. since Donald Rumsfeld.