With the NBA trade deadline less than a week away the trade rumors are heating up. As always, Mark Cuban's Mavs are seemingly linked to every player in the NBA -- available or not.
It was this week a year ago that Dallas made headlines, and shocked their fanbase, by making an eight player trade that boiled down to Devin Harris for Jason Kidd. One year later and nothing has changed with trade speculation again sprouting up between Dallas and New Jersey.
The most recent incarnation would be another blockbuster of equal measure. As reported by Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski:
Nets executives are still reluctant to trade Carter, but are determined to let teams make their best offers all the way to next Thursday’s trade deadline."
If last years trade was viewed as desperation then I'm not sure there is a word in the English language that would fit for a second major shakeup just a year later. The one constant we heard this offseason was how well the team would click after a full preseason for everyone to get used to playing with Jason Kidd. If Howard is traded for Carter does this excuse just pop up again?
While Vince Carter is younger than Kidd and still scoring 20 points per game this year with New Jersey, acquiring him would be an even bigger gamble. His contract still has two guaranteed years remaining at a total of 33.6 million. Kidd’s contract expires after this season allowing Dallas more capability to take the rebuild route if that becomes the clearest direction.
If the rumored preliminary discussions between the two teams do lead to a trade, which seems doubtful, then unlike the Kidd trade the payoff has to be immediate.
Wes Cox is a Dallas based blogger whose thoughts on the Mavs can be read daily at www.mavsmoneyball.com.
