By Michael Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Western Conference playoff race has become a high-stakes poker match with competitors making can-you-top-this moves every week.

An NBA source close to the negotiations said the Dallas Mavericks were poised to make a trade for all-star point guard Jason Kidd yesterday. But late last night, one of the pieces in the deal, Mavericks forward Devean George, exercised his right to block the trade that would've reunited Kidd with the team that originally drafted him in 1994.

The proposed deal comes less than two weeks after the Los Angeles Lakers obtained Pau Gasol from Memphis, and a week after the Phoenix Suns got Shaquille O'Neal from Miami.

"I love him. He's a very special person, but it's time for both him and the organization to part ways," Nets Coach Lawrence Frank told reporters before his team faced Toronto.

To get Kidd, the Mavericks agreed to surrender five players -- including Devin Harris, their point guard of the future -- and first-round picks in 2008 and 2010. Harris, George, former Wizard Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager and the draft picks were supposed to head to New Jersey, while Dallas was to receive Malik Allen in addition to Kidd.

In a separate deal, the Nets also prepared to send Antoine Wright to the Mavericks for a second-round pick.

George has a one-year contract worth about $2.4 million and has the right to approve any deals. He started in the Mavericks' win over Portland last night.

"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, told the Associated Press last night.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said earlier this week that a deal for Kidd "doesn't work," but the talks reportedly began to heat up Tuesday night. Kidd will turn 35 next month, but the Mavericks felt they needed to make a change following back-to-back postseason flameouts against the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals in 2006 and the Golden State Warriors in the first round last season.

Kidd is averaging 11.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 10.4 assists this season, and he was voted to start at point guard for the Eastern Conference this weekend in the All-Star Game. A league spokesman said the NBA had not decided what to do about all-star rosters if Kidd were dealt to the Western Conference. The league could possibly add another player to the East roster while allowing the West to have 13 players.

Kidd, who will make $19.7 million this season and $21.3 million next season, has been rumored in trade deals since last February, when he was nearly dealt to the Lakers. Kidd missed a game in December against the New York Knicks with a migraine, but there was speculation that he actually was staging a one-game protest. He hasn't hidden his disappointment with the Nets and declared his desire to be traded last month.

The Nets (23-30) have been on a steady decline since Kidd led the franchise to back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. Dallas trails the New Orleans Hornets by 1 1/2 games in the Southwest Division.