Jason Kidd is once again in the spotlight as his Dallas Mavericks are one win away from a berth in the NBA Finals. When the Mavs traded for Kidd, pundits panned the deal and claimed that the Nets got the better side of it. Today, that debate has been revisited by SB Nation’s Tom Ziller and Sports Illustrated’s Zach Lowe.
Zach Lowe argues that since the Mavericks are winning with Kidd as a central part of the team, they won the deal. However, Lowe does point out that the Nets used Harris as a part of the blockbuster deal that gifted the organization Deron Williams, and it’s hard to truly evaluate the deal in retrospect.
Ziller says that looking at the current value of the players involved in that swap is not a correct way to evaluate the trade. Instead, he claims that Devin Harris’ value when the trade was made was equal or greater to that of Kidd. He also says that future success can’t necessarily define the trade either, because the Mavs also made the Finals with Harris running the point guard show.
Personally, I don’t think any of the teams “won” the trade. Both teams have moved on significantly from the deal. Harris is no longer part of the Nets, and Kidd is not one of the Mavs’ best players. One could argue that the addition of Tyson Chandler is the reason for the Mavs’ success, just as one could argue that Harris was a bust in New Jersey. However, most Nets fans are probably happy with D-Will at this point.
