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With the New Jersey Nets poised to complete a blockbuster deal to send Jason Kidd back to Dallas on Wednesday night, Mavericks reserve forward Devean George has unexpectedly exercised his right to block the trade. Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that the teams verbally agreed to the deal earlier Wednesday and were preparing to submit the trade for league approval when George informed the Mavericks that he wouldn't consent to being included in the deal, which is his right based on a rare provision in his one-year contract.
"Early Bird rights," a provision earned by being in his second year and on his second contract with the Mavericks, made the move possible.
"We're not trying to hold things up or be difficult, but just like teams make tough decisions all the time -- about cutting players or making trades -- they do what's best for their team, and it's my obligation to do what's best for Devean," his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said, according to The Associated Press.
"You don't want to stop teams from doing their business, but we don't feel like it makes sense at this time. He's starting right now and things are going pretty good."
The deal -- salvaged from talks on a three-way trade with Portland that developed and fizzled quickly two weeks ago -- has Dallas sending 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse, the expiring contracts of center DeSagana Diop and George and guard Maurice Ager to New Jersey for Kidd and forward Malik Allen.
Sources say Dallas would also send the Nets the league-maximum $3 million, the Mavs' first-round draft pick this June and a first-rounder in 2010.
Kidd was with the Nets in Toronto, but didn't talk to the media before the game. He and Allen were both inactive, along with reserve Antoine Wright.
ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard reports that the Nets and the Mavs were likewise poised to complete a separate trade that will send swingman Wright to Dallas for a future second-round pick.
In Dallas, George started against Portland and Diop came off the bench -- indications a deal may not be imminent. Harris, Stackhouse and Ager were inactive, but that's because Harris and Stackhouse are hurt and Ager is in the NBDL.
Before the Mavs' game against the Blazers, Mavs coach Avery Johnson wasn't ready to call the trade complete.
According to the Dallas Morning News, he said that many trades "get to the 20-yard line, inside the red zone, and don't get into the end zone."
Asked if he thought the trade would go through, Mavs owner Mark Cuban said, "No, I don't think so," according to the newspaper.
Harris, one of the keys to the proposed deals said, according to the Morning News, trades are "part of life. I'm just a spectator to the madness."
Bartelstein said George's decision was not to avoid going to the Nets. When asked if something might still be worked out, he said, "We're not going to draw a line in the sand."
Dallas had widely been considered the favorite to win the Kidd trade sweepstakes, despite the repeated attempts of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to publicly dismiss the idea of parting with multiple regulars for Kidd. Cuban told several New York-based reporters before New Jersey beat Dallas on Sunday that a deal for All-Star floor leader would severely weaken his roster.
"For us to make the numbers work in a deal like that, we'd have to trade away half the team," Cuban said. "We're not doing that, so it just doesn't work. And we like our team. We've got a lot of room for improvement and we hope to get better. But right now, I just don't see anything happening.
Yet sources close to the process insist that the talks had heated up within the past 24 hours, with the Mavs still tantalized by the prospect of bringing Kidd back more than a decade after the pre-Cuban regime drafted him out of Cal, watched him share rookie of the year honors with Grant Hill in 1994-95 and then traded him to Phoenix on the day after Christmas in 1996.
Stackhouse's agent told him he was on the move.
"Now I think it's pretty much a done deal," Stackhouse told AP earlier Wednesday.
The Nets were expected to buy out Stackhouse's contract immediately, which would have enabled him to re-sign with Dallas if he waits 30 days.
"I feel great. I get 30 days to rest, then I'll be right back," Stackhouse said. "I ain't going nowhere."
That might be more true than he knew.
Source: ESPN.com
"Early Bird rights," a provision earned by being in his second year and on his second contract with the Mavericks, made the move possible.
"We're not trying to hold things up or be difficult, but just like teams make tough decisions all the time -- about cutting players or making trades -- they do what's best for their team, and it's my obligation to do what's best for Devean," his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said, according to The Associated Press.
"You don't want to stop teams from doing their business, but we don't feel like it makes sense at this time. He's starting right now and things are going pretty good."
The deal -- salvaged from talks on a three-way trade with Portland that developed and fizzled quickly two weeks ago -- has Dallas sending 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse, the expiring contracts of center DeSagana Diop and George and guard Maurice Ager to New Jersey for Kidd and forward Malik Allen.
Sources say Dallas would also send the Nets the league-maximum $3 million, the Mavs' first-round draft pick this June and a first-rounder in 2010.
Kidd was with the Nets in Toronto, but didn't talk to the media before the game. He and Allen were both inactive, along with reserve Antoine Wright.
ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard reports that the Nets and the Mavs were likewise poised to complete a separate trade that will send swingman Wright to Dallas for a future second-round pick.
In Dallas, George started against Portland and Diop came off the bench -- indications a deal may not be imminent. Harris, Stackhouse and Ager were inactive, but that's because Harris and Stackhouse are hurt and Ager is in the NBDL.
Before the Mavs' game against the Blazers, Mavs coach Avery Johnson wasn't ready to call the trade complete.
According to the Dallas Morning News, he said that many trades "get to the 20-yard line, inside the red zone, and don't get into the end zone."
Asked if he thought the trade would go through, Mavs owner Mark Cuban said, "No, I don't think so," according to the newspaper.
Harris, one of the keys to the proposed deals said, according to the Morning News, trades are "part of life. I'm just a spectator to the madness."
Bartelstein said George's decision was not to avoid going to the Nets. When asked if something might still be worked out, he said, "We're not going to draw a line in the sand."
Dallas had widely been considered the favorite to win the Kidd trade sweepstakes, despite the repeated attempts of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to publicly dismiss the idea of parting with multiple regulars for Kidd. Cuban told several New York-based reporters before New Jersey beat Dallas on Sunday that a deal for All-Star floor leader would severely weaken his roster.
"For us to make the numbers work in a deal like that, we'd have to trade away half the team," Cuban said. "We're not doing that, so it just doesn't work. And we like our team. We've got a lot of room for improvement and we hope to get better. But right now, I just don't see anything happening.
Yet sources close to the process insist that the talks had heated up within the past 24 hours, with the Mavs still tantalized by the prospect of bringing Kidd back more than a decade after the pre-Cuban regime drafted him out of Cal, watched him share rookie of the year honors with Grant Hill in 1994-95 and then traded him to Phoenix on the day after Christmas in 1996.
Stackhouse's agent told him he was on the move.
"Now I think it's pretty much a done deal," Stackhouse told AP earlier Wednesday.
The Nets were expected to buy out Stackhouse's contract immediately, which would have enabled him to re-sign with Dallas if he waits 30 days.
"I feel great. I get 30 days to rest, then I'll be right back," Stackhouse said. "I ain't going nowhere."
That might be more true than he knew.
Source: ESPN.com