The heavily anticipated trade between the Dallas Mavericks and the New Jersey Nets has hit a major speed bump in the person of Devean George.
The proposed deal that would send G Jason Kidd and F Malik Allen to the Mavs for George, Devin Harris, Desagna Diop, Maurice Ager, two first round draft picks, and $3 million is being denied thanks to a clause in George’s contract allowing him to veto any trade he does not find suitable.
This new development definitely hurts the chances of acquiring Kidd. The two teams can try to restructure a deal without him, but that will complicate the matters more. Devean may soon be the man single-handedly responsible for destroying Dallas’ chances of pursuing a ring come June.
Then again, he is not solely to blame. Who would give George that kind of power in his contract to begin with?
Mark Cuban, that’s who.
Cuban has a history of making bone-headed choices—not re-signing Steve Nash, letting Michael Finley go to San Antonio, taking Nick Fazekas when he could have gotten Big Baby, Taurean Green, Chris Richard, Jameson Curry, or Rayshawn Terry—and this was one of them.
Since when do you give a 5.9 career scorer that kind of privilege? George signed a two-year $4.2 million deal in 2006 and will now either be waived or traded away, provided that he gives the thumb ups.
Whatever happens with George, he has made a lasting impression on the Mavericks. He may have crippled the Mavs franchise for now and certainly in the near future.
By the way, George went 0-11 last night, the worst shooting game by a player this year. Kidd did not play for the Nets last night because of the anticipation of the trade.
With the deal being voided, it now puts teams like Denver, Boston, Chicago, the Lakers, Orlando, and Cleveland back in the mix for the Hall of Fame guard.
3 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Andrew Ungvari about 1 year ago
Cuban didn't give it to him. It's a rule in the collective bargaining agreement. Cuban had two choices: give George a deal for two or three years or give him a one-year deal but he can veto a trade. The NBA allows teams to go over the salary cap to re-sign it's own players (Larry Bird Rule). But that player has to have been on the team for at least 3 years before they can get that type of extension. This would have been George's third year. If he gets traded then he has to forfeit the right to get paid above the salary cap. There are 18 other players in the NBA that have the same right (Chris Mihm, Jeff McInnis, Derek Anderson, Matt Barnes, etc...)
So it wasn't really Cuban's fault. You can call Cuban boneheaded for not giving him two years but then the Nets wouldn't have wanted him. I guess you can also call him boneheaded for signing Devean George in the first place.
If George doesn't have Bird Rights then he'll be lucky to get $2 million from someone next year.
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Sean Stancill about 1 year ago
Then Cuban should've let the Nets sign him. This deal backfired.
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Derek Bolender about 1 year ago
Who does Devean George think he is vetoing the trade anyways?
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