Leaving New Jersey: Where Jason Kidd Goes from Here

Earlier today, ESPN's Ric Bucher reported that Jeff Schwartz, the agent for Jason Kidd, has asked the Nets to try and trade Kidd by the February 21st deadline.

Kidd told Bucher, "Sometimes, when you ride a wave, you get to the end and that's all there is. That's where we are."

Although Kidd is no longer the player he once was, the soon-to-be 35 year-old is still averaging 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game. The rebounding and assist numbers are actually higher than his career averages.

Bucher reported that the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets have already expressed interest in acquiring Kidd.

Other teams, like the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, will surely call Nets' GM Rod Thorn in the next few days.

Kidd has one year left on a contract that is paying him close to $19.7 million this year and has him scheduled to make around $21.3 million next season.

Kidd will probably have some say in where he ends up, considering what he has done for the franchise since he arrived there in 2001. Kidd led the Nets to their only two NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003.

Schwartz would also like to see Kidd end up on a team that will give him the extension he's eligible for at season's end.

Since Kidd's salary is so high and the Nets are over the cap, any trade would have to bring back incoming salaries within 125 percent + $100,000 of Kidd's $19.7 million.

What are the Nets looking for?

1. Cap Space 

The Nets are currently a smidgen above the NBA's luxury tax threshold. That doesn't seem that bad until you realize that they are eight games under .500 and in the midst of a nine-game losing streak.

The easiest way for a team to get cap space is by obtaining expiring contracts. Whichever team bids on Kidd will surely be asked for an expiring contract or two, or three.

This summer's free agent class can't be judged until those players with opt-out clauses determine their own fate.

Elton Brand, Gilbert Arenas, Baron Davis and Ron Artest are the most attractive potential free agents. Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Monta Ellis, and Josh Smith are some of the more attractive restricted free agents on the market this summer.

2. A Big Man

Since Kidd's arrival, the Nets have struggled to find themselves a legit big man. They thought they found him in Alonzo Mourning until Zo got sick and was eventually traded for Vince Carter.

Even when the Nets were in the NBA Finals they started Kenyon Martin at power forward—great athlete but not a true big.

Look at some of the names the Nets have had starting for them at power forward and center over the years: Jason Collins, Todd McCulloch, Nenad Krstic, Brian Scalabrine, Mikki Moore, Dikembe Mutombo, and Aaron Williams.

3. A Point Guard

If you're gonna lose one point guard you might as well pick up another. Marcus Williams has yet to prove he's capable of running an NBA team. Unless the Nets want Vince Carter to handle the ball more than he already does, they'll need to find a replacement for Kidd. Since the Nets aren't bad enough to draft in the top five, they'll probably ask for a point guard in return. 

4. Draft Picks

Since Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter will both be under contract for combined $28, $30, and $32 million over the next three years, the Nets will need to use the draft to compliment their roster on the cheap. Recent draftees Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, and Antoine Wright have yet to show they can be a part of a championship nucleus.

No team that's willing to trade with the Nets for Kidd will have that attractive of a first-round pick to offer. But the Nets will probably want to acquire picks to trade for talent down the line.

When Martin left the Nets for the Nuggets, the Nets ended up with three first-round draft picks. Two of those picks were used to help get Carter from the Raptors. The third was used to draft Marcus Williams.

Taking a look at the four teams that are interested in Kidd, here's an idea of prospective deals based on what the Nets are looking for...

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets don't have any substantial expiring contracts or a point guard to offer but they do have a young big man to offer. Nene is under contract for three more years with a player option for the 2011-12 season. His contract calls for him to make close to $10 million next year, $10.5 the following season and a little under $11.5 in the season after that. He's also recovering from testicular cancer and the Nets might be scared off by a recurrence.

If the Nets aren't scared off by Nene, they can take him along with the expiring contracts of Eduardo Najera and New Jersey-native J.R. Smith for Kidd.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks definitely meet the criteria of a team willing to give Kidd a lucrative extension. They have a young big with an expiring contract in DeSagana Diop. He's not exactly the type of franchise center that the Nets would hope to find but he can be re-signed for a reasonable amount of money. Even though he's in his seventh year he just turned 26.

As far as point guards go, the Mavericks wouldn't trade Devin Harris no matter how enamored they might be with Kidd. Harris is rarely mentioned in the same category as Deron Williams or Chris Paul but he is an emerging talent on the brink of stardom.

The Mavs would have to get creative to make the salaries work, since their highest-paid players are either untouchable (Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard) or extremely overpaid (Erik Dampier).

That leaves Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse as the principles in any trade. The problem is that both would have to be included in the trade and that might be too steep a price for Dallas to pay. A Terry, Stackhouse and either Diop or Devean George for Kidd trade works but is unlikely because it would leave Dallas' bench especially thin.

New Jersey might promise to release Stackhouse and he would be free to re-sign with Dallas but that might be too big a risk for Dallas. Terry also has a horrible contract that pays him $11.5 million for the 2011-12 season.

Even though the Mavericks are the team that's talked about most as a destination they have the least attractive package to offer.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Kidd and LeBron James both spoke openly about how much they enjoyed playing with each other during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Las Vegas. The Cavs could definitely use a point guard like Kidd but the Nets would prefer to send him to the Western Conference.

The Cavs have a young big in Anderson Varejao, but since he signed so late into the season, he's not eligible to be traded until after the trade deadline.

Drew Gooden is a young big with one more year left on his contract but he would need to be paired with Larry Hughes and the two years left on his horrible deal to make a deal work.

The Cavs can also include Daniel Gibson if the Nets want a point guard. Gibson is averaging close to 12 points and three assists per game and is shooting 47 percent from behind the three-point arc, good for fifth in the league. Not bad for a guy making less than $700,000.

The question for the Nets is, why would they trade for two more years of Hughes after this one when they can keep Kidd for just one more year? Gooden and Gibson might make it worth it. A starting lineup of Gibson, Carter, Jefferson, Gooden, and Jason Collins isn't really that bad.

A trade of Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall and Eric Snow for Kidd works also but that doesn't really help the Nets at all.

Los Angeles Lakers

A year ago the Lakers and Nets discussed a trade that would have sent Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown to the Nets for Kidd. The Nets asked the Lakers to include Andrew Bynum, and the Lakers balked.

A year later and there's nothing the Nets could offer to make the Lakers give up Bynum. Would the Nets still offer Kidd for Brown and Odom?

Brown gives the Nets a $9 million expiring contract. Odom has one more year on his contract at about $14.5 million. Odom is a New York native who would give the Nets some size but the Nets might want one of the Lakers two young point guards, Jordan Farmar or Javaris Crittenton, as well.

The Lakers might not be willing to part with Farmar but they could trade Crittenton. The Nets might also want the Lakers to take on the one-plus years left on Jason Collins' contract.

With Bynum out for another six weeks and Chris Mihm often injured, Collins would give the Lakers a fairly decent back-up center.

By shedding Kidd and Collins' contracts for Odom, the Nets would be more than $10 million under the cap this off-season. Brand is a New York native that might be willing to take a small pay cut to return to the East Coast.

But do the Lakers really need Kidd? A year ago Derek Fisher wasn't on the team so they were looking to upgrade over Smush Parker. With Fisher's return and the much-improved Farmar, the Lakers might not want to part with Odom to strengthen a position that doesn't really need much improvement.

With Kidd, the Lakers could start him in the backcourt with Kobe and move Ronny Turiaf into the starting lineup to replace Odom. They don't really have any other power forwards on the team, except possibly Vlad Radmanovic.

They could also move Kobe to small forward and start Fisher and Kidd at the guard positions.

The luxury for the Nets is that they don't have to move Kidd by the deadline if they're not happy with the offers they get. They could always wait until the off-season and see if they get any better offers.

Don't expect Kidd's name to be the only big name floated around before the February 21st trade deadline. Other names like Wally Szczerbiak, Kurt Thomas, Pau Gasol, and Zach Randolph, will surely get thrown out there.

The good news is that the NBA's trading season has arrived.