Deaven George blocked the first trade, but the Mavs and Nets figured out another way to complete the Kidd-to-Dallas trade.
After having one trade proposal fall through and another come close to suffering the same fate, the Nets and Mavericks nailed down an agreement Monday night that should have the future Hall of Fame point guard in a Dallas uniform by tonight.
“It appears it’s a go,” Nets president Rod Thorn said in a statement released by the team Monday night.
After the teams’ first agreement fell apart last week, they settled on a new one Sunday night – with Kidd, forward Malik Allen and swingman Antoine Wright going from New Jersey to Dallas in exchange for 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, forwards DeSagana Diop and Trenton Hassell, guard Maurice Ager, two future first-round draft picks, $3 million and semi-retired former Net Keith Van Horn, whose rights the Mavericks own.
The latest holdup was due to the fact that Van Horn had to agree to report to Nets camp even if he has no intention of playing for the team. In order to include him in the deal, the Mavericks signed him to a three-year contract, with $4.3 million guaranteed this season. Since the league wants to be sure there are no salary cap shenanigans going on, it is requiring Van Horn to stay with the Nets for at least a month.
Though Van Horn would receive a huge payoff for doing virtually nothing, there was no guarantee he was going to be willing to agree. Since he’s already earned more than $80 million over the course of nine seasons, money may not be an issue for him. However, it looks as if he’s now a willing participant.
Fate smiles on Keith Van Horn again. He’s going to get another nice payday for showing up in New Jersey for a month. Not bad.
Kidd will give Dallas a toughness that has been lacking there for years, but it still feels like the team is mortgaging its future for a quick fix. Kidd should make the team better for a year or two, but if the Mavs don’t hit pay dirt in the playoffs, then they’ll be regretting trading away Harris and those two first round picks.
Still, it’s nice to see teams rolling the dice a little bit this year.
