In our free market economy, some items are easier to move than others. Houses are selling briskly, especially in Southern California, where $1 million will get you a nice two-bedroom fixer-upper with a yard the size of a welcome mat. Because of gas prices, SUV sales are cold, but hybrids are hot. Movie tickets always go at a steady rate. Milk is going through the roof for some reason, so many are turning to alternatives.

With this supply-and-demand dynamic in mind, curiosity couldn’t be higher over the eventual destination of Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq demanded a trade Friday when he realized that the Lakers were exiling head coach Phil Jackson and handing the franchise over to 25-year-old Kobe Bryant. Owner Jerry Buss thought keeping Shaq and Kobe in the same lockerroom is like putting a tarantula and a scorpion in the same cardboard box. So he made it clear that bidding was now available on Shaq’s services.

Of course, the free market in the NBA isn’t all that free. If it were, Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks or Paul Allen of the Portland Trail Blazers, two of the wealthiest owners in the league, would dig into petty cash and come up with the $58 million or so left on the two years of O’Neal’s contract. But the league has a salary cap, and the Lakers would like something in return for trading away the most dominant center in the league.

In order to move Shaq, the Lakers would have to find somebody to take on his salary of close to $30 million per season, and in return get a player or players who approximate the same amount.

While it seems any team would love to have him, not every team would be willing to radically alter their current situation and payroll. You can forget about clubs like the Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs and probably the Indiana Pacers, because they’re already on the right track and would not only have to change personnel but change philosophies by wagering their futures on Shaq. The Houston Rockets are unlikely to deal Yao Ming for Shaq; they’d be wiser to add talent around the younger Yao.

The most likely candidate is the Dallas Mavericks, because Cuban is eager to win a championship, and it has become obvious that playing powder puff basketball won’t get it done. Cuban has a gaggle of gifted players, and could slap together a package that includes Michael Finley, Steve Nash, Antawn Jamison, Antoine Walker and/or draft picks. Obviously the Lakers would rather send Shaq to the Eastern Conference, but they may not have a choice.

There is speculation that Shaq may welcome a trade back to Orlando, but that’s unlikely. The Magic would have to trade Tracy McGrady and one or two other players to the Lakers, perhaps even the oft-injured Grant Hill. But that would leave Shaq on a dog team. He’s eligible to opt out of his contract after next season and become a free agent. Would the Magic want to lose him after one year in order to create massive salary cap room? Orlando has had salary cap room in the recent past and nothing to show for it. Players won’t want to sign there unless there’s a star or two present. Plus, that option only works if McGrady wants to share the ball with Kobe, and that’s a colossal “if.”

It might make sense for Shaq to join the New Jersey Nets, who would have to offer a package of players from guys like Kenyon Martin, Kerry Kittles, Richard Jefferson or Jason Collins. But the perfect scenario for Shaq would be to play with a pure point guard who could get him the ball like Jason Kidd. The Nets need to make such a serious lifestyle change; as currently constituted, there are no titles in their future.

Jerry West probably would love to have Shaq for the Memphis Grizzlies, and has some young players to offer, such as Pau Gasol, James Posey, Stromile Swift and Shane Battier.  That team is promising, but it can either putter along impressing people with its overachievements, or it can make a bold personnel move like taking on O’Neal and thrust itself into the championship picture.

How about LeBron and Shaq? The Cavs could trade Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Carlos Boozer for O’Neal, thereby giving themselves the inside-outside one-two punch the Lakers have enjoyed since the 1996-97 season.

Along those same lines, the Miami Heat could put together a nifty little trade presentation from among their young players. I doubt Dwyane Wade would be made available, but anyone else, including Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and Eddie Jones, could be had by the Lakers.

There are rumblings that Shaq would love to be on the New York stage, but that’s a longshot. The Knicks’ roster is full of trash, relatively speaking. They have two stars, Stephon Marbury and Allan Houston, and little in the way of quality role players. Marbury is a selfish pouter, so pairing him with Bryant on the Lakers would be disastrous. Houston is aging, injured and expensive.

The Chicago Bulls might be interested in dumpling players, now and later. They could deal Tyson Chandler and/or Eddy Curry to the Lakers for Shaq, then keep Shaq for one year, let him move on in free agency and start from scratch with salary cap freedom. Toiling for a young and losing club in Chicago might not be the ideal scenario for Shaq, but he just survived the season from hell in L.A., so one more won’t kill him.

There are as many possibilities as there are franchises in the NBA, not the least of which being that Shaq will calm down and decide he’s better off in Los Angeles playing with Kobe, even if his favorite coach was shown the door and the owner isn’t keen on giving him an obese contract extension.

With this team, anything’s possible.

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