FanHouse KeithVanHorn

After a rather humiliating sweep in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers following a rather mediocre regular season, Denver Nuggets fans wanted change. Be careful what you wish for, for ye will surely get it.

In a report this morning by the North Jersey Record, there is a blockbuster trade being worked on between the New Jersey Nets and the Nuggets that would send Carmelo Anthony, yes, Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby to New Jersey in exchange for Richard Jefferson, Marcus Williams, Keith Van Horn and his faux-contract, and the Nets potential lottery pick.

Take a sec to let that idea sink in. I'll give you a few.

Okay.

So beyond the obvious prospect of trading away the player that was long considered their franchise player and one of the league's leading scorers, the Nuggets are also considering throwing in a former Defensive Player of the Year that is still able to do things like, you know, defend. In return they are talking about a 27 year old solid small forward, but after that it's a rookie prospect, some cap room, and a draft pick that is likely to be around the eleventh. In order for this to work, the Nuggets would have to make a pretty big splash in both the draft and free agency. We're talking "max contract offer to Elton Brand" level of splash. If that weren't to happen, where does this leave Allen Iverson? Carrying the burden for a group of underachievers and a few talented pieces? Haven't we seen this script before? The Nets, on the other hand, would instantly have a ton of talent, and still have a first rounder. They would then start a lineup of Devin Harris, Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthonyge, Krstic, and Marcus Camby, with a late 1st round draft pick, Josh Boone, and reasonable cap flexibility within a few years with Melo's player option and Carter's expiring. Wowzers.

Ah, trade season's back. How we missed it. Let the rumors fly!

In the end, something convinced Keith Van Horn to take the four million dollars to come out of retirement and "play" for the New Jersey Nets. Whether it was his love for the Mavs and Nets and Mark Cuban and Rod Thorn, respectively, or whether it was the four million dollars ... well, who can really say? Either way, it appears that the deal is [finally, almost!] sealed and Jason Kidd, who did not practice with New Jersey on Monday, will be heading to Dallas.

The Nets and Mavericks had to pass an unprecedented series of challenges by the NBA, but the final hurdle was cleared tonight, when Keith Van Horn consented to sign a $4 million contract that makes the trade work financially and report to New Jersey for what is estimated to be 30 days of work.

All that's left now is an official rubber stamp from the league.

The Nets will send Kidd and Malik Allen to the Mavericks for Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell and Van Horn.

In a separate deal, the Nets will dispatch Antoine Wright to Dallas for a $1.6 million trade exception to create the necessary roster spot for Van Horn.

So, in the end, Cubes gets the point guard that he thinks will put the Mavericks over the top. He also grabs, in what I think could end up being a sneaky steal, Wright from the Nets. The Nets get to reload on their point guard situation with the youthful Harris and pick up some cap flexibility. And Kidd doesn't have to remember 2008 as the most awkward year of his life. Is it a good deal? Well, the Nets got a good deal because Kidd wasn't taking them anywhere. As has been commonly observed over the last few days, though, the deal only works for the Mavericks if they win a title.

You know, in simpler times, before players had these "rights", owners would just ship them to and fro, doing whatever they wanted. Now, things are different, as evidenced by Devean George's behavior and the inability of the Mavericks and Nets to close this Jason Kidd deal (which we thought was locked down). And in theory, it will still go through. But as Dave D'Alessandro points out via his conversation with David Falk, Keith Van Horn is no lock to fall in line with the business of getting paid to take a physical.

And suddenly, that seems to be the important factor in this trade: Keith either has cold feet, or feels that a $2M payday for taking a physical is shameless and needs time to think it through, or he just doesn't want any part of it.

Falk won't say which is closest to the truth.

"I really can't say," the agent said. "He wants some quiet time to reflect on it. And that's what he should be doing.

"He'll make a decision, but it's not going to be 'maybe,' or 70-30. Either he'll do it or he won't do it. And we'll all know in the next 48 to 72 hours."

Ouch, for Mavs fans and the slew of players involved who are awkwardly returning to their original teams following this ridiculously over-dramatized deal (and yes, guilty). Falk essentially insinuates (via D'Alessandro's article) in the conversation that Van Horn thinks his involvement in the trade is either a pain or just flat out shameless, although he has deep seeded respect for both Rod Thorn and Mark Cuban in possibly wanting to get this deal done. Will it happen? My personal gut would say yes, but then again, I never thought George would demand to use his Bird Rights either.

That's right! The trade "has legs" again, so sayeth Ernie Johnson. Well, the trade initially had about 14 legs, but then appeared to be practically torso-less, following the stubbornness of Devean George and the wordsmithing of Jerry Stackhouse. But things are not completely bleak for Jason Kidd, desperate to get the heck out of Jersey, as it appears that the deal is back on track, albeit with a few different parts.

Sources say Mavs swingman Trenton Hassell and the retired Keith Van Horn will be plugged into the trade in place of Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George. If the newly proposed deal goes through, New Jersey would receive 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, center DeSagana Diop, guard Maurice Ager, forwards Hassell and Van Horn, two first-round draft picks and $3 million in cash for Kidd and Nets forward Malik Allen.

Reportedly, there is a conference call scheduled with the league for Monday morning, at which time everything will be made formal, although given what happened last time, I would hardly expect Mark Cuban to come out and announce anything until the t's, etc. are crossed. And one would guess to, that he has made sure Donnie Nelson has Van Horn's approval to get traded.

This is basically the same deal for both teams, and there's probably a good chance that Rod Thorn has already spoken to Hassell about a buyout, although I am completely speculating on that issue. Hassell seems relatively unimportant, but he's a good defender, even if his contract is bigger than Stackhouse's long term. Again, we'll have more once the deal is finalized but it is also interesting to note that Kidd's response to David Aldridge's questioning was that his gut feeling had him in Dallas tomorrow morning. You know what my gut feeling says? Devean George is going to be super-popular in the Dallas metro area for the rest of the season.

As assumed since Devean George got his monkey wrench on, the heart of the Jason Kidd trade still beats (pending all that sure-to-be-whitewashed Jerry Stackhouse stuff). Marc Stein of ESPN (who has owned this story, by the way) quotes Nets exec Rod Thorn about the likelihood of eventual consummation, with or without Devean.

"There are a lot of different scenarios that might be feasible," Thorn told reporters Friday.

We laid those out Wednesday night; it appears convincing George to relent is the preferred option, with a golden handshake for Keith Van Horn as the firewall. Stein reports George and agent Mark Bartelstein spoke with NJ officials at length, though nothing seems to have come from that yet.

One other nibble: We mentioned yesterday that Devean was delusional if he thought keeping his Bird rights would actually help his fortunes this summer. Stein got an anonymous team exec to agree, saying his Bird rights are "worthless" without Dallas' cooperation. Something tells me the Mavericks aren't going to be in a cooperating mood if George ends up staying in Dallas this year.

The man named Devean George may have temporarily ruined Jason Kidd's plans, but there are ways the trade can be salvaged.

Keith Van Horn. Taking George out of the equation leaves roughly a $2 million gap in matching salaries which needs to be made up going from Dallas to New Jersey. Mark Cuban's recently rejected the notion he'd sign Van Horn to make a deal solvent, but I'm guessing Cuban didn't expect Devean Freaking George to muck things up either.

Add Trenton Hassell and Antoine Wright to the deal. If the teams feel they need to get this done now, they could offer NJ Trenton Hassell, who might be a bit overpaid and (unfortunately) has a longer deal. Both Dallas and NJ would prefer to use George -- Dallas because Hassell's more vital, NJ because George's off the books this summer. But barring other avenues, Hassell fits and Wright (reportedly involved in a second deal between the teams) could be rolled into the main event.

Threaten Devean. George's agent says they blocked the trade because Devean's in better position to have a bigger summer payday as a Maverick than a Net. But Cuban (and Donnie Nelson and Avery Johnson) can hold something over Devean's head: Playing time. Tell Mark Bartelstein you'll sit George the remainder of the season if he doesn't accept the trade. Enjoy the vet's minimum next year, buddy. It's hardball, but George and Bartelstein instigated it.

I'm a little surprised we haven't heard the name Keith Van Horn this summer. The free agent pool is shallow, Reggie Miller's not coming back, and there are plenty of teams looking for help. Van Horn sat out the last two seasons to spend time with his family, a move which some saw as a welcome antidote to today's NBA.

Marty Burns of SI.com tells us that Van Horn might be done for good:

Van Horn is an interesting case. As you point out, he averaged a respectable 8.9 points and 3.6 boards in 20.6 minutes per game while shooting 36.8 percent from downtown for Dallas in the 2004-05 season. But Van Horn decided against a comeback last season, and there is no indication he wants to get back in now. He seems to be enjoying life as a full-time father, and he certainly made enough cash during his playing days so he probably doesn't need the money.

I said it then and I'll say it again: it would be interesting to see how many players would walk away like this if they were as overpaid as Van Horn. No one in the NBA should have any problem feeding his family (or paying off his yacht), but a max contract is an entirely different level of wealth.