Kidd to Dallas?

[jacktruth]

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com


You are undoubtedly here, with other draftniks, looking for Thursday nuggets. You're probably here looking specifically for a pick-by-pick breakdown of what the heck happens after the Nuggets take Carmelo Anthony.

Sorry.

The NBA draft is mere hours away, but we can't help it. We're still swimming in Jason Kidd stuff. The Finals, also known as two weeks' worth of Kidd stories, just ended. The forthcoming Free Agent Frenzy, also known as the Kidd Sweepstakes, starts in a week.


Jason Kidd and Steve Nash would have to switch places in a Nets-Mavs sign-and-trade.
It's tough to think of anything else, especially now that there are at least two rivals for the Nets to sweat. Both originating from the same state, incidentally.

The chances of Kidd leaving New Jersey for Texas have doubled, according to the weekend buzz. The Dallas Mavericks -- the team that made Kidd the No. 2 overall pick behind Glenn Robinson in the 1994 draft -- have apparently piqued Kidd's interest as a sign-and-trade destination. Word is Kidd will give the New Millennium Mavs, bearing little resemblance to the Mavs he once played for, a serious inspection after July 1.

Based on his repeated declarations that winning a championship -- that his legacy matters, basically -- is the chief concern heading into free agency, Kidd has made it clear that he will only consider teams that can reasonably expect to go farther than the Nets in the short term. Which essentially rules out the rest of the East.

The list of possible alternatives to Sopranoville, then, is a short one: Sacramento and Los Angeles (Lakers, of course); San Antonio and Dallas.

The Spurs, as even single-minded draftniks know, have roughly $15 million in salary-cap room waiting and a two-time MVP who would love to play with Kidd. They are expected to come hard after Kidd, even after winning the championship, even with Tony Parker on the roster, even though Tim Duncan needs a new oversized sidekick to replace the retiring David Robinson. Remember this: There isn't an All-Star big man out there who is any easier to acquire than Kidd, and Kidd is the best free agent available. That's why San Antonio rates Kidd ahead of Indiana's hard-to-get Jermaine O'Neal and the L.A. Clippers' harder-to-get Elton Brand, a restricted free agent.

Of the two over-the-cap powerhouses from California, meanwhile, only Sacramento would figure to have a shot, because the Kings (unlike the paper-thin Lakers) have the surplus talent to make a sign-and-trade work. Yet Kings general manager Geoff Petrie vigorously denies the suggestion he would offer Mike Bibby and Hedo Turkoglu in a sign-and-trade for Kidd. Will the Kings change their stance and join the Kidd bidding? At least it's a legit question. The Lakers can't even consider a bid, unless Kidd was miraculously willing to play for next season's $5 million exception, since L.A. has Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant ... and nothing to offer in a Kidd sign-and-trade.

Which brings us to the Mavericks. The option that has to concern the Nets and the Spurs, even though capped-out Dallas can't sign Kidd outright like San Antonio.

Those who know Kidd insist that he never wanted to leave Dallas. Those who know Don Nelson insist that Nellie, had he joined the Mavericks two months before his actual arrival in February 1997, would have blocked the Kidd trade to Phoenix.

Going back to his NBA roots would give Kidd the opportunity to unwrite the most negative on-court chapter of his life. Going to Dallas, furthermore, would give Kidd the chance to be the catalyst for a team that hasn't won the championship yet.


Going back to his NBA roots would give Kidd the opportunity to unwrite the most negative on-court chapter of his life. Going to Dallas, furthermore, would give Kidd the chance to be the catalyst for a team that hasn't won the championship yet. He'd also have better odds of winning it all with the Mavs than the Nets, despite living in the West, because he'd be joining Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley and whichever frontcourt free agent Kidd's presence could help lure in the $5 million exception slot.

None of that happens, mind you, unless Kidd chooses the Mavericks over the Nets and Spurs and pushes to force a sign-and-trade to Dallas. If that's what Kidd wants, the most likely scenario would force the Mavericks to part with Steve Nash as the centerpiece of the swap for Kidd. The Mavs could then use their exception to chase Alonzo Mourning or P.J. Brown or Karl Malone. Much as the Mavericks are loathe to break up the Nash-Nowitzki partnership, they will certainly dive into the Kidd derby if they learn definitively that Kidd desires a return to Big D.

And if the Nets can't convince Kidd to stay, after two fantasy trips to the Finals following two decades of mostly misery, you can be fairly sure they'd be rooting for Dallas over San Antonio. The Spurs, again, have the cap space to all but match New Jersey's most lucrative offer and take Kidd away without compensation. If Kidd wanted to go to the bigger market, where owner Mark Cuban has his own TV network (HDNet) to entice Joumana Kidd, New Jersey could get a top-flight point guard in return, be it Nash or Nick Van Exel.

So ...

Seems as though the best point guard in the game has at least three choices on the forthcoming open-market fast break. Kidd's hometown Golden State Warriors are pessimistic about their chances of getting into the fray, even amid reports that Kidd is open to a homecoming, because a sign-and-trade would deplete their talent base, which isn't at Kidd's prescribed championship level as presently constituted. The Seattle Sonics, where owner Howard Schultz of Starbucks fame is a family friend of the Kidds, are likewise not even a consideration. But Texas, bigger than ever NBA-wise, presents two inviting, contending possibilities.

Possibilities big enough to interrupt Draft Week, even.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Also, send Stein a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.