Kidd Trade, Mercifully, Almost Done

by Marcel Mutoni

Ugh.

Believe me, I’m getting tired of writing about this as much as you’re sick of reading it. But it’s the biggest story out there, so we trudge forward.

After Keith Van Horn was seemingly considering pulling a Devean George on everyone and derailing the blockbuster trade for the second time, he has apparently come to his senses and taken the free cash to make this work.

Nets president Rod Thorn informed a team administrator that the trade sending Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks for five players “appears to be a go,” completing an excruciating six-day process that will deliver 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris to New Jersey.

Again, the details of the deal:

The Nets will send Kidd and Malik Allen to the Mavericks for Harris — the keystone to the deal, from Thorn’s perspective — along with DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell, Van Horn, and first-round draft picks in 2008 and 2010.

In a separate transaction, the Nets will dispatch Antoine Wright to Dallas for a $1.6 million trade exception to create the necessary roster spot for Van Horn.

Thorn, it was not necessarily reported, also threw in three and a half months of harrowing closeups featuring a regretful and angst-ridden Mark Cuban in his customary courtside seat.