KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM, FOLD 'EM.

Byline: RICH HAMMOND 

Mitch Kupchak held a pair of 10s. Elgin Baylor had 10-jack, suited. Both folded after the flop.

For those not familiar with Texas Hold 'em, the previous sentence might as well have been in German, but know this: In the high-stakes world of the NBA trade deadline, both local GMs played it safe.

In one case, it's a wise move. In the other, it's a lost opportunity.

There's Kupchak sitting at the table, with a nice stack in front of him. In fact, it's a seven-foot stack of chips actually, and for the sake of discussion we'll give it a name: Andrew Bynum.

Kupchak took a look at his cards, looked at the community cards and knew he had a decision to make: Call the big bet made by the player from New Jersey, chase the big pot and risk losing that nice big stack of chips, or throw in his cards, lose a little bit and wait for the next hand.

The latter path was smarter, and that's what Kupchak chose.

Sure, the Lakers could have made a big splash by giving up Bynum to get Jason Kidd. They might even have been better in the short term, especially if it was accompanied by a trade for Jamaal Magloire.

But the risk was too much. Bynum is still something of a project, but he has the potential to be something special. Kidd is (slightly) past his prime and has a balky back that might not hold up through the year.

And what's the point of making a trade anyway? Let's be realistic here. Even with Jason Kidd, does anyone think the Lakers would have had a great chance to knock off Phoenix? Dallas? San Antonio?

Is losing Bynum worth the joy of winning a first-round series, only to be smashed by the Mavericks?

(As an aside, what exactly were the Nets thinking anyway? Their demands, league-wide, for Kidd and Vince Carter were ridiculously high and now they're stuck with an aging, below-average team).

Moving down the poker table, there's Baylor, with Donald Sterling peering over his shoulder.

Baylor missed his chance at a bold play two months ago, when he declined to part with Shaun Livingston as part of the deal that could have brought Allen Iverson to the Clippers.

At that point, there was still time to make a difference. The Clippers were fading but still had time to pull out of it and add some great buzz to the franchise with the addition of Iverson, a nationwide superstar.

The Clippers could have put together a nice package involving Livingston, who hasn't progressed the way many expected he would, and Maggette, who doesn't want to be here with Mike Dunleavy anyway.

Iverson slipped away, but the Clippers still could have made an impact this week with a deadline trade, ended the Maggette distraction and given the team a spark over the final two months of the season.

It didn't happen, and now the Lakers and Clippers both will limp to the end of the regular season.

Now that the trade deadline has passed, it seems likely that both local teams will make the playoffs and lose in the first round. For the Lakers, it's not the end of the world. For the Clippers, it's a disaster.

Roll the dice: The LosAngeles Lakers vs. the Las Vegas Aces. Like the sound of that?

Now that David Stern has gotten off his ridiculous high horse regarding gambling -- believe me, commissioner, the legalized form of gambling is the least of your concerns -- there's no reason why the next owner who wants to relocate his team shouldn't make the move to Las Vegas.

All-Star weekend was, by most accounts, a tremendous success, and it's only a matter of time before one of the pro sports leagues puts a team there. The NFL would be best, but it's too snooty for Vegas.

That's why the NBA is the perfect fit. The league has an edge, and its players are the most identifiable in the world. It's ridiculous to think that an entire season would generate the same excitement as an All-Star Game, but the seats would be filled. Think about all the comps from casinos, etc.

Will the Seattle Sonics be the team to make that move? This week, the team committed to playing in Seattle next season, but if a new arena isn't built, the Sonics might be on the move. Why not Vegas?

Not feeling the Heat: Did any team have a worse week than the Miami Heat?

The return of coach Pat Riley could have given the Heat a boost, but then Dwyane Wade went down, possibly for the season, and the Heat failed in its attempts to add help at the trade deadline.

Among the names that reportedly drew interest from the Heat were Andre Miller, Mike Bibby, Chucky Atkins, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Anthony Johnson and Marcus Banks. And they couldn't pull off one deal?

Say what?! The wackiest deadline-day rumor had the Phoenix Suns offering Kurt Thomas, Raja Bell and a pick to the Nets for Jason Kidd.

To be certain, those rumors started on the East Coast, because although that deal would have made sense for the Nets, how can anyone picture a Phoenix backcourt of Kidd and Steve Nash?

Still a King: Some of the more intriguing trade talk centered around Bibby, who is considered a favorite of Sacramento ownership but was nonetheless dangled in trade talks this month.

Bibby, who has the option to become a free agent this summer, didn't sound particularly enthused about his long-term potential with the Kings, knowing that they had been talking about trading him.

"They say this is a business," Bibby told the Sacramento Bee, "and my business is more certain than it was earlier (this week), so I'm going to go out there and play hard and try to make this playoff push."

Money talks: Is talk of Scottie Pippen's return motivated by a competitive fire or a need for cash? The Chicago Sun-Times reported this week that Pippen, 41, owes more than $5 million over a dispute about ownership of a private jet and a finance company.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 5 boxes

Photo:

(1) The Lakers opted not to trade 19-year-old 7-footer Andrew Bynum, left, for Jason Kidd.

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

(2) no caption (Gilbert Arenas)

Box:

(1) DAILY NEWS CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER

- Ross Siler

(2) THEY SAID IT

(3) TWO THUMBS DOWN

(4) IN GOOD COMPANY

(5) THIS WEEK'S BEST BET