# AJ: "We're not involved ... we're moving forward with our team"



## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Dallas Mavericks coach squelches Jason Kidd trade rumors


12:58 AM CST on Friday, February 1, 2008
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

BOSTON – Jerry Stackhouse has a motto when it comes to life in the NBA. 

"The checks cash in all 50 states," he said Thursday. "That's all you need to worry about. If you get somewhere where the checks don't cash, then you got an issue. But up until then, they're going to cash." 

His point is that trade rumors come with the territory, even when your coach is shooting them down in no uncertain terms. 

The Jason Kidd talk of the last few days has swamped the Mavericks, but Avery Johnson has no intentions of letting it dominate their thoughts. He shot down the rumored deal with the strongest commentary on it yet. 

"We're not involved," he said flatly. "Anybody has a right to throw out names. That's a part of speculating. But we're not involved. That's all I can tell them. We like our team, and we're moving forward with our team." 

The Mavericks have been rumored as a possible destination for Kidd, but all of those bits of speculation have been downplayed since they made the rounds. Kidd was drafted originally by the Mavericks and has asked to be traded by the New Jersey Nets. 

The Mavericks and Nets have talked, but no deal was even remotely close to happening. 

Johnson reiterated that the Mavericks believe this team as constructed is capable of winning the championship. 

"We feel when we have our 10-man rotation, we feel we can be pretty good," he said. "We know there are a lot more teams favored to win it than we are this year. But we like our team." 

Asked again if there was interest in Kidd, Johnson said: "We like our team." 

The players have heard about the rumors, but they know it is part of the business. 

"It doesn't bother me, but you think about it," said DeSagana Diop. "I wouldn't lie about that. But I don't let it bother me. Just be a pro and do your job." 

Stackhouse improving: Jerry Stackhouse, who is with the team on this trip, said his strained right hamstring is making progress. 

But he and Johnson said they are in no mood to rush Stackhouse back. 

"It's still not completely right," Stackhouse said. "We'll just see how it goes." 

*Said Johnson:* "Hopefully, we can get him back for some parts or all of practice on Saturday, and then see how he recovers from that. We don't want him to be playing with this hamstring all year. I'm not saying if we do this, it'll make it 100 percent. But hopefully, we'll be able to manage it better." 

Stackhouse participated in parts of Thursday's shootaround. 

*Stepping up:* The Mavericks applied some solid defense on Boston, particularly in the second quarter Thursday, when the Celtics shot 6-of-17 and had four turnovers. 

It was a continuation of what Johnson has been seeing of late from his team. Before the game, he had lamented that his defenders would have a huge challenge against the Celtics, who are among the league leaders in points in the paint. 

"This is a terrific team," he said of the Celtics. "It's night and day from what we've seen coming up here the last couple years." 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...ries/020108dnspomavericksbriefs.781486d7.html


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## Resume (Jul 17, 2007)

> Asked again if there was interest in Kidd, Johnson said: "We like our team."


That right there tells me they are still talking about the trade. NO GM EVER (or coach) says they are going to make a trade. That is bad business. We will just have to wait and see.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

:yay: :yay: :yay: :yay: :yay: :yay: 

No deal is right! Kidd will kill DAL chances of going anywhere this season.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

Cuban Willing To Offer Kidd $20M Extension
February 1, 2008 - 9:34 am
New York Post -
Peter Vecsey of the New York Post has reported that Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban would be willing to give Jason Kidd the one-year, $20 million extension that the Nets would not give the point guard.

The extension would be for the 2009-10 season, according to a source close to agent Jeff Schwartz.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Right... so we wait for him to finish out his contract with the Nets, and then Cuban can overpay him.

:cheers:


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

My guess is, the Mavericks are looking to trade for Kidd then give him an extension.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

t1no said:


> My guess is, the Mavericks are looking to trade for Kidd then give him an extension.


That would be a wrong guess.

:gopray:


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

After what happened with Steve Nash, Cuban is more willing to pay for a PG.?


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

But paying 20mil for an OLD run-and-gun PG is completely messed up for a team that prefers grind-it-out halfcourt sets (and losing).


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

He can do much more than just run-and-gun. 
I don't like the extension but i would love to see the Mavericks trade for him. With Dirk and JHo getting older (you can throw Terry, Stackhouse and Dampier in there), we only have two or three years left to contend for a championship. So if Kidd can give us that extra push, i say trade for him even if that means losing Harris.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Harris, Stack, George and Diop?


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

I think we can keep Diop and i read somewhere that Stack would be waived so we could sign him as a FA.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

If we can somehow guarantee to get Stack back, then I am all for it.

The essential 3-for-1 deal (Harris, George and Diop) would be excellent.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

With Diop having a really bad year, George being out of the rotation and your man crush on Bass. It's pretty much Harris for Kidd.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

t1no said:


> With Diop having a really bad year, George being out of the rotation and your man crush on Bass. It's pretty much Harris for Kidd.


I couldn't care less about Diop and George, but my man crush is the only thing keeping me going about this team.

See... the problem is that Cuban got me by the balls, and I HAVE to try and be enthusiastic about the home games.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

I still don't see how the 2008 version of Jason Kidd gets us over the top.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

croco said:


> I still don't see how the 2008 version of Jason Kidd gets us over the top.


2007-2008 season average thus far
PPG 11.3
RPG 8.20 
APG 10.4

The only person averaging more boards/game is our big german.... We are talking about a guard, not a forward or a center.

And that assist average remains one of the elite few.

I have no doubt about Kidd's ball skills, but I refuse to give up 1/3 of our team to get him.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

FG% 36.6 
TO 3.70 

Those two stats are terrible, especially in our offense where you can't turn the ball over and as a point guard you need to be able to make some shots. He has always been a poor shooter, but this year it's ridiculous. That is almost Eddie Jones bad. We really don't need his rebounding, we are already a more than solid rebounding team and his numbers would take a huge dip.

He also would not get double digit assists with us, the offense is not built to get many assists. Do you want him and Eddie Jones to spot up on the perimeter and launch three days all day long because they can't get to the basket ?

Devin is shooting 48 % from the field because he can drive to the basket, something this team needs.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

We don't need him for scoring, leadership and mental toughness is what i want from Kidd.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

croco said:


> Devin is shooting 48 % from the field because he can drive to the basket, something this team needs.


He is the most inconsistent player in the Mavericks and when he does decide to be more aggressive, it's only for 5 minutes. :azdaja:


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

t1no said:


> We don't need him for scoring, leadership and mental toughness is what i want from Kidd.


He would still have to hit the open shot though and he can't do that. 

As long as Avery is the coach he will the leader of that team, as a former point guard he won't let someone else take over in that department. Kidd would also not come in and be very authentic after whining that much in recent weeks.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

t1no said:


> He is the most inconsistent player in the Mavericks and when he does decide to be more aggressive, it's only for 5 minutes. :azdaja:


I know, but that's still five minutes more than most of our other players :sadbanana:


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

I know Kidd is having a bad year when you look at his FG%, but the dude hasn't been happy all year long and i expect that to change if he comes to the Mavericks.


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## TexasG (Jun 4, 2002)

One thing you guys are not talking about is how Kidd would actually make Dirk, JT, and Josh better. Kidd will get them the ball where they're most effective. He's also still pretty good at leading the break. Adding Kidd would mean a lot more possessions just because of his rebounding. I'm not so worried about his shooting with guys like JT, Josh, and Dirk on the team. All of them are also more than capable of taking the least shot. Having Kidd on the team would mean that they would get a better shot.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

One interesting thing about Devin:



> When Harris is on the court, the Mavericks have outscored opponents by 217 points this season. When he is off the court, the Mavericks have been outscored by 11. Harris is, therefore, +228.


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