Allen Hasn’t Ruled Out L.A. Teams

Ray Allen, on the same team as Kobe Bryant?

The Seattle SuperSonic guard, an unrestricted free agent come July, said he’s open to any possibility, even sharing a locker room with Bryant, with whom he exchanged barbs during the exhibition season.

“That’s crossed my mind at one point in time,” said Allen, a four-time All-Star. “I could play with him. I told you guys earlier I don’t have anything against him. Any time you can play with somebody who requires attention from the defense, it makes your game better as well as my game would make his better.”

Bryant could move to small forward, Allen could play shooting guard and Caron Butler could play both positions, what Allen referred to as “flexibility.”

But there’s that one little problem of the salary cap.

The Lakers have devoted $70 million to next season’s payroll, putting them almost $30 million over the current-day salary cap.

The only way Allen could play for the Lakers would be a sign-and-trade with Seattle, which probably wouldn’t be too enthusiastic to deal with a Western Conference team. Seattle and Allen reportedly are more than $20 million apart in contract talks, with Allen seeking a five-year, $90-million deal.

Another possibility could be Allen with the Clippers, setting up an in-town rivalry between Allen and Bryant.

The Clippers will be about $12 million under the salary cap and could move Corey Maggette back to small forward if they signed Allen.

“It’s not too far outside the box,” Allen said. “That’s not too abnormal. There’s so many scenarios. That’s the situation I’m in, when you don’t have any guarantee, your mind wanders a little bit based on what possibly might happen.”

How far does it wander?

“I have a [talent] agent down here, he’s been griping and yearning for me to get down here and play on one of these teams for a long time,” said Allen, who starred in the 1998 movie “He Got Game.” “[The Clippers] are not one of the best franchises in sports history. That’s just the history of it. Then you talk about one of the richest [traditions], their counterpart in the same building.

“Those [Clipper] guys are young, good players. You can tell they have the desire to want to win and play hard. Now, on the other side of the equation, is that being met? You can’t have one or the other, you’ve got to have both. You can only get by so long with the situation where the two don’t meet.”

Bottom line for Allen, averaging 23.8 points before Tuesday’s game against the Lakers: “I definitely will keep every option open.”

TONIGHT

vs. Clippers, 7:30, Ch. 9, Ch. 5

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KLAC (570); KWKW (1330); XTRA (690/1150).

Records -- Lakers 22-17, Clippers 19-22.

Record vs. Clippers -- 2-0.

Update -- The Lakers beat the Clippers in November, 103-89, and again in December, 89-87, although the latter came down to the final minute despite the absence of Clipper forward Elton Brand, who was serving a one-game suspension. Clipper guard Corey Maggette’s status is a game-time decision because of a sore left foot, and forward Chris Wilcox might play after sitting out three weeks because of a stress reaction in his lower right leg.