Kidd Returning to Mavericks

The free agent guard has agreed to terms on a three year deal with Dallas, reports ESPN

By SCOTT M. CRISP

Updated 3:40 PM CST, Mon, Jul 6, 2009

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ESPN has reported that the Dallas Mavericks and Jason Kidd reached an agreement on a new deal for the veteran point guard.

Kidd agreed to sign a three-year contract for more than $25 million to remain with Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the Mavericks. The New York Knicks were among other teams expressing interest in the 37-year-old Kidd, and the only serious suitor to meet with him last week.

However, Dallas remained the favorite to land Kidd throughout the negotiations, offering him more money and a better chance to win in the short term; seemingly, the fact that Kidd’s five children live in the New York area and the far-off possibility of landing Lebron James in 2010 were the Knicks’ only bargaining chips.

"With this contract, Kidd could end his career in Dallas, which is just how he started it back in 1994," said the initial AP report.

Owner Mark Cuban was vocal in his excitement concerning the deal.

"We are excited to have Jason Kidd back in a Mavs' uniform," Cuban told the Dallas Morning News. "He was a major contributor for us last year, and we expect more of the same next year."

While there is little doubt that Kidd was a major contributor in 2008-2009, he drew heavy criticism from fans and writers during the playoffs, particularly in the Denver series, during which he struggled mightily with turnovers.

There is also a contingent of fans (and writers) who regularly lament the deal that sent Devin Harris, a fan favorite and developing star, to New Jersey in exchange for Kidd in 2008. The 26 year-old Harris was an all-star last year for the Nets.

Whispers around Dallas have already categorized the deal as a three-year long defense of the midseason trade; however, given the Mavericks’ point guard situation, the move was probably born as much out of necessity as it was out of hopes for vindication.

The deal with the Mavericks cannot become official until Wednesday the eighth, when the moratorium on signings and trades ends, reports the Associated Press .