The Mavericks lost a future Hall-of-Fame point guard for nothing in free agency not so long ago. Whether or not Steve Nash’s defection set the franchise back is up for debate.

Dallas did reach The Finals two years after the the guy who became a two-time MVP left.

History didn’t repeat itself with Jason Kidd, but there were some anxious moments over the holiday weekend. Kidd agreed to come back to the franchise where his NBA career was born (and then revived) for three years and $25 million.

The logic in bringing back a floor general who will be 39 by the time the deal is done deserves inspection. Mavs owner Mark Cuban cited age and injury concerns with Nash, 30 at the time, when not offering a contract anywhere close to what the Suns did in 2004.

All Nash has done for the last five years is average 17.1 points and 10.9 assists, leading the league three times in the latter and never finishing below third. And he hasn’t played less than 74 games in a season during that span. Seems like the Canadian can still play.

In that same span, Kidd has averaged 12.1 ppg and 8.9 apg and has played in at least 80 games in four of the last five seasons.

Losing Kidd would have been a tremendous blow on the court and in public opinion. Had he taken a New York offer for about $7 million less, it would have left Dallas with virtually nothing to show in the Devin Harris trade to New Jersey that also included two No. 1 picks.

The fact Kidd considered the Knicks should be reason to pause. Not only is the money less, but New York doesn’t figure to contend this season. That of course could change next summer and Kidd would have been a big part of the recruiting process.

But for now it seems he took the safe choice. The Mavs still have a ways to go to get back to the top of the Western Conference, but at least they have their point guard in place.

(nba.com)

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