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.
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