Jason Kidd signed a 3 yr./$25 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks as we all expected. There were no heavy favorite NBA Finals team in which he could have signed with and he opted instead for the money as oppose to spending a season in New York before the Lebron sweepstakes started. So knowing that Kidd would likely be offered mid-level exceptions and shorter contracts from teams like the Knicks or Blazers,Mark Cuban overpays for Kidd and signs him to a longer contract than he needed too. Kidd is clearly on the decline of his career, in addition to far being removed from his peak in the 2002-2003 season. And if you're incline to bring up his performance in the 2008 Olympics, Chris Paul (CP3) and Deron Williams were more productive although Kidd did provide the leadership that the group needed.
Instead, I think Mark Cuban would have been wise to try and pursue another New Jersey Nets pointguard, no, not the guy that they shouldn't have traded away for Kidd (Devin Harris), but Rafer Alston. Alston had a very productive year for the Rockets and Magics and was a key contributer to the Magics' run before Jameer Nelson's return. Alston would have come cheaper, younger (4 years), and with shorter terms. He would have nicely filled the role of mentor to JJ Barea in that Barea is a career back-up and borderline starter, a role that Alston knows far too well. This would have nicely filled the one-year gap before the 2010 free agents sweepstakes for the Mavs. But as the Kidd signing signals, Cuban is more interested in spending money, making poor decisions, and compiling a potential 50-game winner that will never contend for the NBA Championship in a crowded Western conference than to build a solid young core to potentially contend. Dallas fans are probably wishing Cuban could have bought the Cubs last year and spent this summer worrying about their underperformance as oppose to the Mavericks..
Excellent point about the Alston signing - I think many teams are going to be after him since he doesn't really fit in NJ behind Harris, has an expiring contract, and has shown with the Magic that he's still a legit PG in this league.
ReplyDeleteI generally agree with what you said about Kidd - however, you can never forget how much their decisions depend on Dirks wish. Dirk flourished with Kidd next to him, and he probably pushed very hard to resign him. Sadly, this prevents the Mavs from improving on their current 50-win, borderline second round situation.
I like the concept of your blogs. Untold Stories. Sometimes comical, sometimes insightful. Good idea. But to be honest I think you're missing a lot of things when you say Rafer Alston would have been a logical move. While it is something I didn't think of, I think there's a reason for that. He's not the kind of PG Cuban wants. Whether or not the Kidd/Harris trade was good or bad, it's undeniable that Kidd had a positive effect on Josh Howard, Jason Terry, and Dirk Nowitzki. He opened things up for them and made them better. Dirk quietly had an amazing year and playoffs. Factor in his and Terry's age and the idea of getting younger by snatching Rafer this season and letting Kidd go doesn't seem to carry much weight.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would "flourished" though. Sure his PPG is up by 2, but Kidd does knock down his RPG/APG slightly since he takes a couple of those away. Also, if you notice, his FG% did not improve from 2 years ago, going from 50% to 48% during the season that Kidd came and staying at 48% with Kidd for a full-year. So maybe that says something about the shots Kidd sets him up for or that Kidd prevents Dirk from driving to the hole as often as he likes. Alston though, hands down, will protect Dirk from his girlfriend.
ReplyDeleteAnthony,
ReplyDeleteCuban does like flashier point guards with big names. So in that regards, yes he would re-signed Kidd, but for 3 years - that's 2 too long. In next year's free agent pool, he can bring back Steve Nash (a year younger) or go after Rondo or TJ Ford. So I think if we wants a clone of Kidd that's better at the moment, he simply could have waited a year for Nash - and you can't argue that he wouldn't have great chemistry with Dirk or for that matter anyone on the team. Nash made the Suns better, he can do the same for Dallas (again).
I didn't mean "go young" with Alston, he is still 32 going on 33. But I meant as a holdover for another PG worthy of a 3 year contract of that size, simply put, he overpaid. Kidd's worth is ~$17-18 million over 3 years (mid-level exception at $5.6 million), if any team will give him that in terms of length, factor in the Cuban premium/playing in Dallas, then you maybe give him $21 million over 3 years, but not $25 million. And even with Dirk and a solid PG, they need more than that to dethrone the Lakers or contend in the West. And they should be looking for a title, not just a winning season and playoff appearance.
I think it could be said that to Cuban $25 million is the same thing as $17-18 million to anyone else. All KIDDing aside, I would never say that Nash and Dirk would have bad chemistry, so don't jump the gun. I agree that 3 years is too long to resign an already declining player, but what other options does Cuban have at this point? The Mavs were arguably good enough to take the Nuggets to 7 if not for a botched no-call by the officials that resulted in Melo dropping in a haymaker of a game-winner. And to be honest, Kidd's defense now(in its depleted form) is as bad as Nash's has been for his entire career.
ReplyDeleteYou have me confused here. I'm uncertain as to what we're arguing about. I never claimed the Jason Kidd resigning was good(although that little incident with him and his wife back in like 2003 has me believing he'd do a better job of protecting Dirk from his ex than Rafer would). All I said was that trading for Rafer would be bad. I think Kidd paved the way for Terry to win 6th man, Josh Howard to redeem himself as a player when healthy, and Dirk to not rely on his three-point bucket anymore. As far as winning championships goes, they're far from Laker-level, but on par with every other team not named the Spurs or Blazers.
Agreed, but I wouldn't say Blazers, it would be the Nuggets. The Blazers almost made a terrible move signing Hedo before the Raptors bailed them out. He gives them something they already have, offense/scoring, but not the defense/toughness they would have needed.
ReplyDeleteReally? I don't want to say the Nuggets are fluky, but thinking they're going to be as good as they were last year isn't something I'm willing to do. The Blazers are better on paper, and with a year of post-season experience under their belts, as well as some time to develop, I could see them rivaling if not taking out the Nuggets. And thanks to Toronto, they're the highest paying employer on the market. Plus, I'd take Nate McMillan over George Karl any day of the week. But I don't know. I could be wrong. If JR Smith continues to improve and play inspired defense, ditto for Nene, and Chauncey can stay in the top 10 in PGs, I could see you being right. I'm just more comfortable playing the role of skeptic when everyone else is screaming fire.
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