Et tu, Kobe? Bryant ponders offers

Never again will Shaquille O'Neal wear gold and purple. And if that wasn't stunning enough, consider the idea of Kobe Bryant clad in red.

"We have no idea whether Kobe will come back," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak acknowledged Wednesday. "We're hopeful that he'll re-sign, but we don't even know that."

The Los Angeles Clippers, by trading Melvin Ely and Eddie House to Charlotte for two second-round draft picks, have cleared enough salary cap space to offer Bryant a maximum-salary contract of about $100 million over six years.

The Lakers can offer Bryant a seventh season in a package worth an additional $30 million, but whatever contract Bryant signs will presumably have an opt-out clause after the fifth season -- making the financial value of the two offers much more comparable.

Elsewhere around the league on Wednesday, which ended a two-week moratorium on moves in the NBA:

Rasheed Wallace continued to negotiate with the Detroit Pistons;

Erick Dampier was stalling on accepting lucrative offers from Atlanta and Denver in the hope that the New York Knicks would be able to acquire him from Golden State;

The only signings not previously reported (such as Carlos Boozer's signing with the Utah Jazz) were minor ones -- center Jason Collier joining the Atlanta Hawks, and forward Tamar Slay and guard Jason Hart joining the Bobcats;

The Denver Nuggets and New Jersey Nets continued to discuss trade scenarios involving forward Kenyon Martin;

Vlade Divac pondered returning to one of his former teams, the Lakers, rather than taking less money from his current team, Sacramento;

Also, incoming Raptors general manager Rob Babcock reiterated his desire not to trade Vince Carter, but he was vague when asked if Carter's agent, Mark Steinberg, had requested a trade.

-- AP