EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Let's all play GM for a minute. We'll pretend we're running the worst team in the NBA.

At our disposal is a player who's ranked 15th in the NBA in assists. He's a seven-year veteran who has been considered a rock-solid backup throughout his career, although he was a starter in 73 of his 76 appearances last season.

After notching another nine assists Monday night in a 103-99 overtime loss to the New Jersey Nets -- a total that easily could have been a dozen or more if the Oklahoma City Thunder had knocked down several open jumpers -- that particular point guard has tallied 20 dimes in his past two games.

What's more, that particular point guard is teaching some of the more subtle tricks of the trade to the player who has replaced him in Oklahoma City's starting lineup, the far-more-speedy but far-more-erratic Russell Westbrook.

So even though the franchise's long-term plans do not call for keeping him around, there has to be somebody out there who will offer something approaching fair value for Earl Watson, no?

Well, apparently not.

A three-team trade that was discussed between Dallas, Charlotte and Oklahoma City would have included Watson's being dealt to Charlotte with the Thunder receiving only a second-round pick and Jerry Stackhouse in return. (The other main pieces of the trade, according to ESPN colleague Marc Stein, included Raymond Felton, Sean May and Nazr Mohammed heading to Dallas, and DeSagana Diop moving from the Mavs to the Bobcats.)

Odds are that Stackhouse would have been bought out (he is guaranteed only $2 million of his $7 million salary next season), so Oklahoma City would realize a $4.6 million savings in 2009-10 -- along with whatever money would have been thrown into the deal as a sweetener.

And that, folks, is apparently the best Thunder general manager Sam Presti can do -- at least for now. (We expect better from Sam the Wunderkind, who set the bar pretty high when his first major deal sent a second-round pick to Phoenix for Kurt Thomas and two first-round picks -- both unprotected).

"I think what it tells you is that as we get to the deadline, we're going to see a ton of deals that are solely financially driven," said one league executive with knowledge of the Thunder-Mavs-Bobcats discussions. "Teams are cutting the bottom line, especially in light of the economy [and] the fact that the cap might stay flat this year and go down the following year, which means the luxury-tax number will go down, too. If you have escalating deals and a de-escalating tax, that's the trend you're going to see."

The Thunder's nucleus consists of only three long-term certainties -- Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Westbrook, with the jury still out on Nick Collison. Oklahoma City has stockpiled five first-round picks in the next two years (their own in 2009 and 2010, Phoenix's unprotected 2010 pick and Denver's and San Antonio's 2009 picks), so the rebuilding process will remain in place long after Watson is moved.

There's a saying in NBA circles that if it's January, there must be an Earl Watson trade rumor out there somewhere. The 6-foot-1 point guard from UCLA has been the subject of trade rumors virtually every season he has been in the league since Seattle took him with the 40th overall pick of the 2001 draft, although he has been traded only once -- as part of a four-team deal in 2006 in which he went from Denver back to Seattle.

"He's been in the league and knows the players he's guarding, their tendencies. He's heady, he plays extremely hard, and the last couple games he's really kept us steady and given us a chance to win," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "You get better by practicing hard against your teammates, and Russell is getting better because he's practicing against Earl every day."

Watson would seem to be a perfect fit for two of the top teams in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, both of whom are seeking depth at point guard. But Los Angeles has nothing to match Watson's salary ($6.2 million) that would be of interest to Oklahoma City, nor does Boston -- at least nothing that matches up salarywise.

With the three-team deal between the Thunder, Bobcats and Mavericks apparently dormant, other trade possibilities are bound to pop up between now and the trade deadline.

But can Presti receive more than a second-round pick and some financial relief?

Well, if you are playing GM the same way I am, the best option seems to be to wait another five weeks, wait for a better offer and let Watson keep doing what he's doing. Eventually, someone will get him on the cheap. But the guess here is that the selling price will be a little higher than it was when the Thunder were ready to let the trade to Charlotte go through, especially if Watson keeps averaging 10 assists as he has the past two games.

And Watson's thoughts?

"I talked to [agent] Dan [Fegan] and I told him: 'Don't call me unless I'm moving.' We talk about everything, but when it comes to that, I don't want to hear about scenarios, because then you get into the waiting game."

Still, Watson has to be waiting -- yearning, actually, for the sake of his own pride -- to hear he's at least worth more than a second-round pick and some cap relief.

The next six weeks will show whether he is.

Chris Sheridan covers the NBA for ESPN Insider. To e-mail Chris, click here.

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