Jason Kidd finally traded to Dallas

To trade or not to trade? The long-asked question has finally been answered: To trade

Jason Kidd is finally going to Dallas (again) a week after the trade seemed to be in severe jeopardy, thanks to Devean George invoking his little-known no-trade clause to veto the deal, and Jerry Stackhouse implying that there was a pre-arranged deal for him to return to Dallas, albeit legal.

The new deal looks like this: Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell, Keith Van Horn, first-round draft picks in 2008 and 2010 and $3 million going to New Jersey in return for Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright. The Mavericks were able to lure Van Horn out of retirement and Van Horn will be playing for the Nets.

With the deal having been so close to completion last week, this is huge for Dallas that it got done. In the end, even though this will dent Cuban’s wallet 11M more than the original deal, Dallas will be better off this year, as they keep George instead of Hassell, and they don’t lose Stack for 30 days. New Jersey wins too with this deal. They clear cap room, and they get a young point guard to build around with in Devin Harris. With Kidd now, Dallas got one of the more loaded teams in the league, able to fly with some of the other elite team’s combos. This deal gives Dallas the mental toughness they need to contend for a title. With the West so wide open, I’m not going to crown the Mavericks, but look for them to be in the hunt.