After days of back and forth, the deal that will send Jason Kidd from the New Jersey Nets to the Dallas Mavericks is finally complete. Mavs owner Mark Cuban said, “It’s done. J-Kidd is a Mav.” This whole ordeal was a mini soap opera that is mercifully over. It was first reported last Wednesday that Kidd would be shipped to the Mavs. The deal was then blocked by Maverick Devean George, who invoked his no-trade clause to stop the deal. George used the clause so that he could obtain his Larry Bird rights.
After a few days of “Will it or won’t it?” the deal was finally completed earlier today. Malik Allen and Antoine Wright will join Kidd in going to Dallas. In return, the Nets get young point guard Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, DeSagana Diop, the contract of Keith Van Horn, cash and a first round draft pick. There were many salary cap issues that made this deal very complex, issues that I do not understand and frankly would rather not understand. Because of all of the contractual nuances involved in this trade, it’s tough for me to tell how the Nets made out in this deal. But I would say it’s a good deal for them. Their run of success with Kidd at the helm ended about five years ago and the team has been spinning their wheels for the last few years. In the NBA, mediocrity is death. It’s tough to become good unless you have a chance to undergo a thorough rebuilding process or are lucky enough to land a superstar in the draft. The Nets were bogged down in mediocrity, and were not going to get better unless they did something drastic, such as trading Kidd. This will not pay immediate dividends for the team, but in the long run it will benefit them. Harris seems to be a promising young point guard, and hopefully for the Nets he will be a breath of fresh air for a franchise that needs it desperately.
Happy Birthday to Big John Studd, Dave Stewart, Seal, Miguel Batista and Mike Miller
Filed under: NBA - Nets, Writer - Bill Slattery
