Fans in Dallas aren’t the only ones screaming at Devean George to sign off on the trade. Fans in New Jersey are also yelling at him to let the Dallas Mavericks send over Devin Harris.
The Trade in Limbo
The big talk in the sports world right now is the trade between the Dallas Mavericks and the New Jersey Nets that’s waiting to happen. Both organization are waiting for the following trade to be completed.
- Dallas Mavericks receive guard Devin Harris, guard Maurice Ager, guard Jerry Stackhouse, forward Devean George, center DeSagana Diop, $3 million in cash, and 2 future first round draft picks.
- New Jersey Nets receive guard Jason Kidd, guard Antoine Wright, and forward Malik Allen.
The trade, however, has been held up thanks to a little known clause in Devean George’s contract that allows him to veto any trade involving him.
Net Gain
While the majority of the sports world has been focused on how much the Dallas Mavericks improve with the addition of Jason Kidd, we’re going to take a look at how much this trade benefits the New Jersey Nets.
On paper, it looks bad for the New Jersey Nets. They’re losing an all-star point guard.
However, if you dig deeper, you’ll see that the team is trading away a player that doesn’t want to be in the organization any more. It’s also an organization that has very little chance of winning a championship.
The best move for both Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets was to trade away the talented and versatile guard to another team.
It was time to rebuild.
And what do you always look for when you rebuild? Young players and expiring contracts.
The package that the Dallas Mavericks came up with fulfilled both of those wishes.
Diving in With Devin
Devin Harris is only 24 years old right now, but you can already tell that he has it in him to become a perennial all-star.
The 5th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, Devin Harris is one of the quickest players in the league. In fact, you could probably draw a pretty good crowd to a foot race between San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker and him.
He’s already viewed as one of the best defensive guards in the league. Some even call him the best defender at his position.
And he’s still improving.
With that in mind, the New Jersey Nets would do well to rebuild their franchise around him and forward Richard Jefferson. The two could form as potent of a combination as Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion could down in Miami.
The Foundation is Set
The New Jersey Nets wouldn’t just have two pieces to build around. The roster already has a couple of young players that can still develop into good players. Plus, the trade with the Dallas Mavericks could also bring in some other pieces as well.
First of all, let’s take a look at the pieces that will end up boarding a plane with Devin Harris to New Jersey.
Maurice Ager can still become a good swingman in this league. He just needs more playing time. That was difficult to come by on a team where he was behind Eddie Jones, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, and Jerry Stackhouse on the depth chart.
DeSagana Diop might not become an all-star center in this league, but he can become a solid center for the New Jersey Nets.
He can join a big man rotation with 7 footer Nenad Krstic, who happens to only be 24. Sean Williams and Josh Boone could round out a nice rotation.
Devin Harris and Maurice Ager join a backcourt that already consist of Marcus Willams, a 23 year old guard from Connecticut.
They might not win a lot of games at the start, but they are nice pieces to build around.
Closing Thoughts
For the sake of both franchises, this trade needs to happen.