Kidd is Officially a Maverick Again

With five words shortly before noon Tuesday, Jason Kidd officially returned to the Dallas Mavericks.

"Deal is done and official," Mavs owner Mark Cuban announced via e-mail.

After a week of torturous twists and turns, the NBA finally put its stamp of approval on the second version of a blockbuster trade that sends the disgruntled Nets point guard to the Mavs for up-and-comer Devin Harris.

It became apparent Monday night that the trade would go through after serious doubt crept in numerous times throughout the saga. Harris is already in New Jersey for his physical.

Joining him in the trade are backup center DeSagana Diop, reserve swingman Trenton Hassell, little-used second-year guard Maurice Ager and the linchpin of the deal, the semi-retired Keith Van Horn, who will pocket $4 million to get the salaries to match.

The Mavs also throw in $3 million and first-round draft picks in 2008 and 2010. To first sign Van Horn before they could trade him, the Mavs had to waive rookie Nick Fazekas on Tuesday.

Along with Kidd, the Mavs receive 6-foot-10 forward Malik Allen, who is not a typical banger, gathering just 2.7 rebounds and 5.4 points in 15.9 minutes a game, plus Antoine Wright, a third-year guard who has been slow to develop as a pro since leaving Texas A&M after his junior season.

The Mavs introduced Kidd, Allen and Wright at an afternoon news conference. Coach Avery Johnson, team president Donnie Nelson and Cuban also answered questions at the news conference.

Kidd, drafted by the Mavericks second overall in 1994 and then traded away by the former ownership in 1996, returns as one of the best assists men ever to play the game.

After taking over as point guard for the Nets in 2001-02, he transformed one of the worst assists teams in the league into one of the best the very next season, leading New Jersey into the NBA Finals.

"Jason Kidd has been the best player to wear a Nets uniform during my current tenure with the Nets," team president Rod Thorn said in a statement released by the team. "He was the toughest competitor with the fiercest will to win and he was the main component in the most successful period in the Nets’ NBA history.

"Jason is a first ballot Hall of Famer and the man most responsible for transforming the Nets into a high quality NBA team."

The Mavs already have the high-quality team. They’re seeking the final leadership piece to return them to the Final for a second time in three seasons, but this time to win it all, which would be a first for the franchise.

By making the trade and passing on the soon-to-be 25-year-old Harris, the Mavs have put a two-season window on winning a championship. Next season Kidd will earn $21.4 million on the final year of his contract.

He wanted a contract extension from the Nets for another season at around $20 million, but the Nets hedged. Whether Cuban will extend Kidd soon or wait to see the results of this season will be a question the owner will likely have to address.

Kidd, with Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard, gives the Mavs a Big Three_and throw in Jason Terry for an impressive core of four_to match Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker of the Spurs and Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal with the Suns, while seemingly put the Mavs at the top of the heap along with other contenders. including the strengthened Los Angeles Lakers.

It would seem that Johnson’s use of the underdog card throughout this season won’t hold water any longer.

"As a player, you just want to come to work and play hard and give your team a chance to win," Kidd said during over the weekend. "Hopefully you put yourself in position to win a championship. There’s no guarantee."

The Mavs resume play Wednesday against the Western Conference-leading Hornets in New Orleans. If Kidd can play it will kick things off with Kidd going up against the Hornets’ rising point guard, Chris Paul.

An indication of just how tough the West is with most teams having 30 or fewer games to play is that the Mavs (35-18) are two games out of the conference lead, but also two games out of the lottery.

Kidd said he’s looking forward to returning to the West, where the style of play is faster and more wide open than in the laboring East.

"I love to run," Kidd said. "So if I’ve got guys that are going to run with me, that’s when it becomes a lot fun."

The Mavs reconvene for practice later this afternoon, their first time back since losing at Phoenix on Thursday and after a bizarre weekend of on-again, off-again trade speculation that left half the team in limbo.

Devean George nixed the original deal when he blocked the trade through the use of a no-trade clause. Then Jerry Stackhouse set off a wild sequence when he blabbed that the Nets planned to waive him and that he would return to the Mavs are a 30-day waiting period.

That raised red flags with the league, which apparently put enough fear into the Mavs that leaving Stackhouse in the package would either kill the deal or the league would prevent Stackhouse from returning to the team.

In the end, while the Mavs gave up plenty, and the two first-round draft picks should be not be taken lightly, they did give up less in actual personnel.

Ager had recently been sent to the NBA Development League and had no place in Johnson’s rotation. Hassell, in his first season with the Mavs, was mostly out of the rotation. By not being in the deal, Stackhouse won’t have to miss 30 days, crucial in this tight race.

And George can still be an asset. At 6-foot-8, he’s a solid perimeter defender and has been playing well overall lately after being re-inserted into the rotation.

The Mavs could miss Diop the most. The 7-footer formed a pretty solid defensive team with starter Erick Dampier. Without Diop, in a conference that features strong centers, the Mavs will miss his fouls, blocked shots and rebounding, while putting additional pressure on Dampier, power forward Brandon Bass, newcomer Allen and possibly little-used veteran Juwan Howard.

"In the playoffs you still need your centers to step up and play, protect the paint, you still have to have some points in the paint," Dirk Nowitzki said. "It’s a little bit of everything. The best teams now can play both styles. Phoenix, now they can still run, they can still gun, and now they have a weapon in the post. You have to be able to attack both ways."