Piggybacking Coup’s thoughts from earlier (right below me) now that the trade has been agreed upon in principle. I texted this to Coup immediately, my gut reaction was that this is the iffyiest of the three blockbusters. Without a doubt. When I saw the trade went down my first thought was “At the end of the day this trade does not address any of Dallas’ weaknesses and actually takes away from them.”
I think I might have been wrong.
Getting the best PG in the game (sorry Steve) is a big move. Especially when you consider that Jason Kidd is damn near averaging a triple-double. Not only that but he brings hunger, experience and leadership to a Dallas team that has struggled with it. Coup brought this up but he is going to be the leader which is going to take a load off of Dirk’s hands. It would be pure idiocy to call this a bad move for Dallas. It’s just they are completely ‘all in’ right now. And they are all in without a guarantee of a championship.
Think about this they are giving up Devin Harris, Stackhouse, Diop, George and Maurice Ager for Kidd and Malik Allen. At first I thought this was way too much. Where is the bench?
The Nets are going to buy Stackhouse out and he’ll be back. Also Dallas may acquire Antoine Wright in a separate trade (for a second rounder). This means that really all they are losing is Harris (upgrade in Kidd), Diop (racked up some DNP’s when Dampier was healthy and they got Allen), George (O-L-D) and Ager (Antoine Wright replaces him). What exactly do they lose in the long run? Not much.
However, does getting Jason Kidd = a championship? That’s the million dollar question. They have firmly established that they will be a player this year and next. There is no doubt about tha. They’re in the top 5 with ease. That championship window just got pulled up a little higher. Except it is going to close in a hurry and they are in an era full of teams who can win the title. In the West alone there is San Antonio, Phoenix and the Lakers to deal with. Not even talking about how good everyone else (Utah, Houston, Denver, Golden State, Portland) is. There are absolutely no guarantees and while this trade makes them better, I’m not sure it puts them over the top. Pau going to the Lakers put them up there. They may not win the title this year but they will be a force over the next few years. The Suns getting Shaq, while it is still iffy, if it pans out would put them over the top. Kidd going to Dallas doesn’t automatically put them up there. There are still holes that need to be filled. They still are going to depend on Kidd, Hassell and Eddie Jones to play perimeter defense. If anyone saw the Miami/Chicago series last year, you’ll know that Jones is pretty much shot defensively. He and Hassell are liabilities on offense and do you really want to have to exhaust Kidd on both ends? Kidd can still get it done but it wouldn’t be practical.
For New Jersey this is a pretty good deal. You get two expiring contracts (Diop and George) a young “PG of the future” (Harris) and some depth for right now. The biggest problem with the Nets with Kidd is they had no one but those three. It’s clear they are in complete rebuilding mode, which in the East is not that long of a process. Unless you’re the Knicks.
This is a good trade. My hesitation is I think this would be the definition of a panic trade. I definitely don’t think this makes them the favorites. That however could be because of how crazy the Western Conference is right now. There are 4 legitimate NBA championship contenders. San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas and the Lakers. How nuts are the playoffs going to be?
Again, I’m speechless. I’m shocked. I’m surprised. I’m excited. There is no guarantee on anything, this could be the best of the blockbusters and it could be the worst. I’m just enjoying the ride.
By the way…can’t wait until Denver snags Artest in a couple days.