by Stop Mike Lupica on February 7 at 9:40AM
Almost forget about the Jason Kidd, right? Remember that big three-deal that was rumored just a week ago, between the Blazers, Nets and Mavs? How quickly things happen in the NBA. Since then the Lakers supposedly shifted the power in the Western Conference by acquiring Pau Gasol, and now the Suns... um, they did something. And the Spurs even signed Damon Stoudemire, quietly giving them a nice weapon off the bench, and a good three-point threat.Given that the Jazz and Hornets are pretty set in terms of their teams (the Hornets might want to add a SG with range, but they're not going to go out and trade for Michael Redd or anything), that leaves the Mavs and Nuggets as the two contenders out West who might be looking to keep up with the Joneses. Both have been rumored as interested in Ben Wallace (yuck) and, of course, Jason Kidd. Let's back it up, and review the haps on Jason Kidd.
Jason Kidd is unhappy in New Jersey. This is not a question - he's already gone so far as to sit out a game against the Knicks with a "migraine". He's made his comments directly to management, and recently to the media, throwing his coach and management under the bus:
"It used to be if I got a triple-double, that was an automatic win," he said. "That's just not the case now. We tried to make this work. We've found out it doesn't. It's time for us all to move on."
There is some sentiment out there that Jason Kidd is unhappy with Vince Carter's play. That seems unlikely to me.
BK Ernesto: "Wasn't Jason Kidd out there last season pushing for the Nets to re-sign Carter?"
SML: "I don't know. I don't remember..."
BK Ernesto: "I think he was. Go dig, man. Dig."
I did some digging. No luck finding any response on the topic. But I doubt Kidd would have been anything other than supportive when asked about Vince Carter re-signing with the Nets. Players don't throw other players under the bus, not like that. Plus rumor has it they are, or were, friends. Here's my take on it: Vince Carter got his deal. Richard Jefferson got his deal. Jason Kidd just wants his deal. Nobody likes to wait for their contract to expire when they are old. They want to be taken care of. When you are a youngster, on your rookie contracts - yeah, you can bide your time, wait for the contract to expire, and get your free agent bids. Even if you didn't play well, you are still full of "potential". You have to really screw up to not get a good contract after your rookie contract expires. But when you are older, at the end of your career... it doesn't matter if you are a Hall of Famer, or even one of the best five point guards in the league (as Kidd most definitely still is). Your team doesn't want to extend your contract, because they know time is their side, not yours. The Nets know that paying Kidd after next season will be cheaper than paying him now, because his numbers aren't going to get any better - only the same, or worse. And that gives them leverage. It's that simple.
Jason Kidd, Nets management, the media... they can all try to somehow pin this on Vince Carter's lack of effort, but he's not the boogy man here.
Now what was management thinking?!? If you pay Richard Jefferson, and now Vince Carter, like that, yet play hard ball with Jason Kidd, you need to know this: Jason Kidd is the franchise player. Not treating Kidd like the franchise player means he's going to let Vince Carter be the franchise player. And that means you have no franchise player. Simple.
The Nets could have avoided this by at least offering a two-year extension to Kidd. Then his contract would line up nicely with Carter and Jefferson's contracts, and all three would expire at the same time. He might have turned it down, but at least they could say they are acting in good faith.
But Jason Kidd ain't without blame, either. He knows the deal, too. His contract is large. He's still signed until the end of 2009, so it's too early to be flipping out about money. The Nets have tried to keep him happy in his time here. They keep making small trades and signings (Jamaal Magliore, Stromile Swift) that are designed to give Kidd more ammunition.
The Nets really don't have much in terms of assets to trade, so acquiring big players isn't easy. They have the three big contracts, and that's about it. They have young talent, courtesy of some good drafting (Marcus Williams, Sean Williams, Nenad Krstic. Maybe Josh Boone). They have expiring contracts $10 million or so (Boki Nachbar, Magliore, Antoine Wright, Darrell Armstrong, Malik Allen). Those guys are also their entire bench. They really can't swing too many trades... think about it this way: As much as the Lakers "stole" Pau Gasol, and the Heat essentially "stole" Shawn Marion... the Nets couldn't put together a package that was better than either of those offers for those players. Expiring contracts like Kwame Brown are nice. Receiving six players back in return with small expiring contracts is not. Most teams don't even have that much roster space (not that they need to keep the players).
So the Nets, for now, appear to have chosen Vince Carter over Jason Kidd. From a purely basketball prospective, that's a poor choice. However, Vince Carter seems to have friendly ties with the organization, and the owners. He's hung out with Bruce Ratner in Brooklyn a few times at Nets-related events (for example: over the summer at a Coney Island beach volleyball tournament). Vince Carter will be the face of this franchise if it makes it to Brooklyn. Also, VC is a steady second banana. He'll never carry a team by himself, but he's as good a second banana as you can find in this league. He's good for 20-25 ppg, and above average peripheral stats. He appears to have better "real life" character than Jason Kidd; Carter's personal life has, to this point, not brought bad attention to the Nets. I guess when you are trying to start over in a new market, these things matter more than actually basketball production and heart.
Whatever the case, there are no winners here. No side to root for. The Nets management made a choice, and now has to deal with it. Jason Kidd is a great basketball player (the best point of his generation, in my opinion), but he's no good guy, either. He might soon be on his fourth team, having been traded three times in his career. In everyone of his stops he's left on bad terms. Keep that in mind.
As for where he'll end up: the best Denver can offer is Nene, which makes no sense to the Nets without Kidd. If Kidd was staying in NJ, then trading those expiring contracts for Nene wouldn't be a terrible deal (I personally won't like it too much, but it might be worth rolling the dice for - it's not like Kidd has much time left). But if you are looking to move Kidd... the Nuggets just don't match up very well directly. Neither do the Mavs, obviously. Both teams need to use a third team to make this trade happen.
I wonder if the Knicks could become involved, and offer Randolph to the Nets in exchange for expiring contracts, with Kidd going to the Mavs/Nuggets. It might be wishful thinking on my part to think that the Knicks can get rid of Randolph that easily, but he does seem like a good fit with the Nets. A Randolph/Williams front court is well balanced. In fact, add in Marcus Williams, Carter and Jefferson, and the Nets seem like an improved team, believe it or not. They have balanced scoring, guards who can drive and push, or play in the half court, decent defense (heavily reliant on Williams), great rebounding, and good passing (Jefferson and Carter are terrific passers for their positions; Randolph is too, when he's willing to pass).
Other possible trades to look for in the next couple of weeks: While the West has been making noise, the Eastern Conference contenders have been quiet. Both Boston and Cleveland are looking for point guards. Despite the apparently availability of Kidd, neither has the goods to make a move for him. The Celtics don't even have enough to trade for Sam Cassell, who would be a good fit for them. But the Cavs... they might be able to acquire Cassell for little. I can see that being a possibility over the next two weeks.
Bonus Random Youtube Videos:
Jay-Z, "Girl's Best Friend":
Trick Daddy, "Take It To The House":
And keeping in with the theme, here's KC himself, in his younger days. His style never changed... as E-Wonder pointed out to us once, if you watch him performing on TV nowadays, he's still the same... sitting behind the keyboard, pounding the keys, singing, looking to the left, smiling, looking to the right, smiling, looking back to the left...
Jay-Z, "Girl's Best Friend":
Trick Daddy, "Take It To The House":
And keeping in with the theme, here's KC himself, in his younger days. His style never changed... as E-Wonder pointed out to us once, if you watch him performing on TV nowadays, he's still the same... sitting behind the keyboard, pounding the keys, singing, looking to the left, smiling, looking to the right, smiling, looking back to the left...
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