It's Kidd stuff
Guard laughs off evolving trade
NEW ORLEANS - He was introduced as a New Jersey Net last night at the NBA All-Star Game - and he laughed. What was Jason Kidd thinking? What did he know? When did he know it?
As it turns out, Kidd knew nothing substantive about his immediate future. He said his gut told him he was going to be a Dallas Maverick. His uniform said Eastern Conference and he was very much a Net in the East locker room, reminding his teammates of the humiliating loss inflicted upon them a year ago in Las Vegas.
But what was he laughing about? He said it wasn't because of his affiliation, but because he thought he was supposed to be doing some kind of dance. He didn't dance. So he laughed.
"I'm kinda shy," Kidd said.
He sounded like he meant it.
There has never been quite a situation like the one we've seen with Kidd over the 72 hours that he and the rest of the NBA world were hunkered down in the Big Easy. He was on his way to Dallas last Wednesday. Then the deal fell through. Then, a second deal was hatched, the details of which emerged last night. It still hasn't been finalized or approved by the NBA, so, for now, Kidd is still a Net. (Key words: "for now")
There was a quandary for the NBA while the first deal was still alive. Could Kidd start for the Eastern Conference All-Stars if he was a member of the Western Conference Mavericks? Thanks to Devean George's delusional intransigence, that problem was avoided. Then, hours before last night's All-Star Game, which the East won, 134-128, the second deal seemed to be gaining legs and Kidd went on TV before tipoff to say he felt it might actually happen.
After a typical Kidd game - 2 points, 4 steals, 4 rebounds, 10 assists - he was resigned to having to wait another day or two before he finds out where he'll end up. He said his plan was to return to New Jersey and, as he put it, "wait for a phone call. Or see if there might be a message. (Yeah right, like he'd have to wait until he got home to see if his message light was blinking.)
"Until the physicals are passed, you gotta wait until everything is official," he said. "There's a lot of talk out there. There's a lot of whispers out there. It's close. We'll see."
Kidd said he feels that this deal might actually go down, based on conversations with his agent. The principals remain the same - Kidd and Devin Harris. The Mavericks reportedly have replaced George and Jerry Stackhouse with Trenton Hassell and the retired Keith Van Horn. Dallas also will surrender draft picks and some of Mark Cuban's walking around money ($3 million). The Nets might add a body to make the numbers work.
In the Irony Department, there were times last night in the fourth quarter when a small Eastern lineup resulted in Kidd covering Dirk Nowitzki - and vice versa. Did Kidd see that as an NBA version of foreshadowing?
"That part of it was fun. That's what the game is all about," he said of his playing against Nowitzki. "Knowing that he might be my teammate and that it might be happening. But mostly, we were just kidding around."
Nowitzki didn't want to deal with the situation. He, too, has been hounded by Kidd queries all weekend and, as far as he knows, Kidd still plays for the Nets. "Let's talk about the All-Star Game," Nowitzki said to the very first question posed to him in the mixed zone. The question? What do you think about the latest Jason Kidd rumors?
Amare Stoudemire, however, was more than happy to take the Kidd story and run with it.
"I think it's going to help Dallas with the up-tempo game," the Suns' center-until-Shaq said. "Jason's a future Hall of Famer alongside Dirk. It will be fun to see. The West is back."
But the ever-diplomatic Kidd wouldn't go that far and, after what happened with the first trade, who can blame him? For someone whose insides must feel like jambalaya, he showed remarkable poise and patience in the face of all the questions.
"We'll soon find out," he said, satisfying no one. "Things are moving in that direction. But I've heard it before and until I get that call . . ."
That call could come as early as today. Kidd might want to rethink his travel plans and stick around, for the Mavericks' next game is right here, Wednesday night, against the Hornets. The Nets' next game is Wednesday night at home against the Bulls.
"One way or another, it's not going to take long," said Kidd. He's right about that because the trade deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. George's unwillingness to move over future earnings power led to the first trade unraveling. It's conceivable something just as silly could do the same to the second one (like, perhaps, the possibility that Van Horn has no desire to play. But that's another story).
Last night was Kidd's eighth All-Star game. He's unlikely to ever have another one with quite so much intrigue.
"It's been a long weekend," he said.
He didn't need his gut to tell him that.
Peter May can be reached at P_May@globe.com. 