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Despite naysayers, Mavs are happy to have veteran Kidd in lineup


DALLAS — Go ahead, drool over dreams of Devin Harris still wearing a Mavs’ uniform. Curse the day that Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson — and yes, Avery Johnson, too, despite what he might be saying now — made that trade for Jason Kidd last year.

Harris’ eruption into an All-Star caliber player in New Jersey this season has made all that regret downright fashionable and I’d be the last one to try to dissuade you from wallowing in all that miserable angst.

It was a bad trade because it didn’t do what it was intended to do: carry the Mavs to another NBA championship run in 2007-08. It was bad because Harris will still be cutting and slashing to the basket when Kidd is in a rocking chair somewhere, watching on TV.

He’s just not there yet and that’s still the joker in this deal, because as well as Harris is playing, Kidd is also having himself a nice little season.

He’ll be judged, though, not on any individual stats, not on his scoring average, not on his still surprising ability to rebound and not even on his uncanny ability to dish out assists, where he ranks fourth in the NBA this season with 8.5 per game.

No, Kidd will be judged on whether he carries the Mavs into the playoffs and beyond, because that was what he was brought back here to do.

On a night when Dirk Nowitzki shot the lights out at the AAC with 39 points and the Josh Howard-less Mavs drummed their old rivals, the Phoenix Suns 112-97, Kidd quietly and efficiently went about his job of setting the table for Nowitzki, Jason Terry (19 points), J.J. Barea (18 points) and the rest of the Mavs.

As much as he might be unappreciated by those gnashing their teeth over the loss of Harris, Kidd has been everything that Mavs coach Rick Carlisle expected.

"And more. And more," Carlisle said, repeating himself for emphasis. "His aptitude for the game, his competitive spirit, his motor, which is just unbelievable, they’re all things I’ve marveled at from afar for a long time, but to see it first-hand and experience what he’s been able to do is remarkable."

Whether Harris would be doing for the Mavs what he’s now accomplishing for the Nets is at best debatable. My guess is, no, which doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be a valuable asset here. It’s just that the Mavs wouldn’t have suggested to Nowitzki that he should plant himself in a corner to clear the way for Harris to do his thing.

No, Harris needed to leave Dallas — and especially the iron hand of Johnson — to develop into the player he is becoming in New Jersey.

Kidd, meanwhile, continues to do what he has always done. He has become the Mavs’ unquestioned floor leader.

"He just does his thing," Carlisle said. "He prepares, he works, he does it by example and he helps give guys confidence on the floor."

Despite Barea’s emergence as a force in the Mavs’ last two games, it’s probably a little too soon to call Kidd Dallas’ "other point guard." The young and blossoming Barea has become a better player by simply having a chance to see Kidd up close and personal on a nightly basis. Lately, he’s even been getting the chance to play alongside him.

"Without even talking, he gets everyone involved," Barea said. "He sees things on the floor that nobody else sees.

"He’s always in the right spot at the right time, always chasing the ball."

It’s easy to look at the Mavs’ record (27-25 including the playoffs) since Kidd arrived Feb. 18 and declare him a failure here. But he joined a team that was burned out and tired last season and one that has been adjusting to a new coach and new system this season.

Still, that alibi only goes so far, as even Carlisle understands.

"That’s kind of a crutch to say that. I’m just not into that," Carlisle said. "I think we’re at the point where we shouldn’t be talking about an adjustment period."

Thursday night’s comfortable victory was exactly what the Mavs have been needing, a win against a quality team, even though the Suns are struggling with a new system of their own.

It was the Mavs’ eighth win in their last nine games, their third in a row and moved them past the Suns and into seventh place in the Western Conference standings.

Slowly but surely, the Mavs, even without Howard, seem to be shaking off their rough start and finding their legs. Give Kidd a large share of the credit for that.

"He’s more comfortable in the system that we have now," Terry noted. "Coaches give him freedom and players have adjusted to his style of playing. We know if we get out and run the floor, he’s going to get us the ball.

"He’s the best to ever do it [finding the open man]. Him, John Stockton and Steve Nash are the three I think about.

"Not dissing Magic Johnson, but these are guys who make their teammates better. They play the game so unselfishly, you can’t help but want them to be on your team."

What’s done is done. Kidd is here, for better or for worse, and from the head coach to the players in the locker room, there’s no looking back. Maybe it’s time to stop gnashing those teeth and follow their example.

http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1076269.html