Nets' Rebuilding Effort Starts With Moving Kidd

Jason Kidd was sick alright. Sick of playing for the Nets.

The official word is that New Jersey's star point guard sat out Wednesday night's loss to the Knicks with a migraine headache, but reports afterward said he was playing hooky because he was so upset with the team's direction. On the latter point, few Nets fans would disagree. The club has played far worse than its 9–10 record would indicate, and with the two key players on the wrong side of the 30, a solution doesn't appear in sight.

Kidd is frustrated with both management and his teammates. He's angry at the front office because they won't go over the luxury tax line and seem more committed to meeting financial goals and setting up their move to Brooklyn than they do with winning in East Rutherford today. He's also upset at them because they wouldn't give him a contract extension as a golden parachute for all he's done for the team.

As for his teammates, that one is easier to explain. The Nets feature the only starting frontcourt in captivity that could play a game of sudden-death one-on-one and have it last over an hour. Even more vexing is his fellow All-Star, Vince Carter, who Kidd apparently feels should have been playing when he sat out five games earlier this season — even after Kidd has played through countless aches and pains for this team. This wouldn't be the first time Carter has been accused of malingering.

Kidd's reaction to the lack of an extension is a common reaction by older players … but a wrong one. It would be salary-cap suicide for the Nets to give Kidd two extra years with a maximum contract, especially since his scoring numbers have sharply declined this year. That's exactly why the Nets didn't do it.

Instead, he should remember that gratitude is a two-way street. The Nets have paid him a maximum salary for the past half-decade, brought in players he wanted even when it didn't seem in the team's long-term interest (anybody remember Alonzo Mourning?), and put enough pieces around him when he first showed up that the team's sudden improvement cemented Kidd's superstar rep.

Unfortunately, it appears that the Kidd Era in New Jersey is in its death throes. Even if you accept his explanation that it really was a migraine headache, and that it was bad enough that he knew hours ahead of game time that he couldn't play with it, and that was why he didn't show up at the arena even though a teammate with the exact same ailment (Josh Boone) managed to make it

Well, even if you buy all that, it doesn't change the basic facts about this Nets team. It's a good enough team that it if everybody is healthy they'll probably make the playoffs — something they have in common with about twothirds of the league. On the other hand, it's a bad enough team that if a couple key players are missing, they're hopeless — just as they looked on Wednesday despite playing at home against a lowly Knicks team that itself was missing two starters.

And thus, we return to a topic I've brought up several times over the past year, only this time we can say it with more clarity. Folks, it's time for the dynamite. Time for team president Rod Thorn to focus on what will be the first defining moment of the Nets' Brooklyn Era — trading Kidd and Carter and starting the rebuilding process around Richard Jefferson and the other young players.

This is a bit of a slap in the face, perhaps, since the Nets failed to trade Kidd last year when they probably could have received more, and then failed to sign and trade Carter this summer when it definitely would have reaped a greater haul. Nonetheless, there's nothing to be ashamed about. The Nets walked the full mile with this group and won two conference finals with them.

But it's time to change gears, and Kidd is the domino that needs to fall first — he's older and, more importantly, he's bitter. So which trading partners make sense? The three teams most commonly mentioned are Cleveland, Los Angeles and Dallas, but two of the three seem like tough matches. Dallas doesn't have any big expiring deals to throw in, so a third team would need to be involved, which doesn't sound like a big deal, but in reality this is the place where most trades go to die. As for Cleveland, Kidd has become fast friends with LeBron James ever since this summer's Olympic qualifying tournament, and the Cavs have a clear need at the point. But they don't seem to have much to offer in return.

Then there are the Lakers. The obstacle here is L.A.'s reluctance to part with promising center Andrew Bynum, which killed a potential deal last year. But now L.A. has enough quality youth to work around that. One possible scenario would to take promising point guard Jordan Farmar instead of Bynum, along with first-round pick Javaris Crittenton and the expiring contacts of centers Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm and shooting guard Sasha Vujacic. The Lakers might want to involve a third team in the deal to get around the fact that this deal would leave them a body short up front, but the basic parameters work — especially if L.A. throws in a first-round pick as gravy. Also, they couldn't do it until December 15 if Mihm is part of the deal, but that's only a week away.

Other trade scenarios are possible, though not likely. Orlando certainly could use a point guard, and if the Magic decide the team is ready for a title run right now, a deal for Kidd makes sense. But they don't have the type of young prospects to entice New Jersey, so again a third team needs involvement. Chicago could certainly use Kidd but the Nets probably aren't interested in the struggling Kirk Hinrich right now, so the Bulls would have to include some massive sweeteners. Atlanta has a need at the point and the prospects to lure New Jersey, but Kidd is likely to balk at being sent there ... and so on down the line.

At the end of the day, the scenario that works best has Kidd changing coasts and joining Kobe. The Nets can get an expiring contract, a point guard of the future (I'm a big Farmar fan), and at least one other prospect to help the rebuilding.

Alternatively, they can try to stick it out with this group and hope they get healthy enough to stagger into the playoffs before suffering a savage first-round beating. But the latter path is the foolish, hardheaded one. If they choose it, the Nets' headaches are likely to multiply.

jhollinger@nysun.com