After speaking with Jason Kidd tonight before the Nets played the Hornets, I came away with the distinct impression that his mind is already halfway to Los Angeles.
Speaking to a few reporters in a rare pre-game chat that might’ve been his last with the Nets, Kidd said he’s been told the Lakers are the only team he could be traded to before tomorrow’s 3 p.m. deadline.
He sounded not only at peace with the possibility, but genuinely intrigued by it. Kidd noted that unlike the last two times he got traded, when he was in Dallas and Phoenix, he can see this one coming a mile away. He also made a point of saying both the previous trades worked out just fine.
“And if I’m traded to who everybody’s speculating, you know, I think that could work out, too,” Kidd said.
The sticking point has been the Lakers’ reluctance to part with 19-year-old 7-footer Andrew Bynum or Lamar Odom. The Nets need a legitimate post-up player, and the Lakers were believed to be trying to involve a third team who could send them one.
There are a ton of rumors out there, but the deal that I’ve been told is the closest to going down is Mike Bibby from Sacramento to Cleveland. The Lakers, who thought they had a deal for Bibby yesterday, are out of it and have focused their efforts on Kidd.
One package going back to the Kings for Bibby that would match salary-wise would be power forward Drew Gooden and point guard Eric Snow. I can’t imagine Snow playing out West, so if he’s not involved, the Cavs would have to send back a couple of contracts to make the numbers match; Scot Pollard and Aleksandar Pavlovic would do the trick. Anderson Varejao, I’m told, is not involved.
The Nets are still fielding offers for Vince Carter, who just hit the 40-point mark against the Hornets with a minute left as I am typing this. But I believe New Jersey will decide they can get more for him in a sign-and-trade this summer. The Knicks are still on the sidelines.
I appreciate all your questions/suggestions, and I’ll try to address them as best I can all the way up to the deadline. For now, I don’t think the Knicks are doing anything big, but I still wouldn’t be surprised if they made a smaller deal, possibly involving Jared Jeffries.
As for Corey Maggette, I still think he could still get traded, although Clippers owner Donald Sterling apparently has ordered coach Mike Dunleavy and Maggette to put their differences behind them. ESPN.com’s Marc Stein does a good job addressing it in the Daily Dime, here http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime
Comments (1)
what about SI.com reporting Knicks and Nets holding discussions about Carter anything about that