Finally: Kidd back with former team

He was dealt from the Nets to the Mavericks as part of an eight-player deal.

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Kidd is a member of the Dallas Mavericks. Again. Finally.

The long-discussed, once-scuttled and ultimately reconfigured deal to bring Kidd from New Jersey back to the team that drafted him was finalized Tuesday. He was reintroduced in Dallas 14 years after the Mavericks made him the No. 2 pick.

Back then, Kidd was supposed to help turn around one of the worst franchises in sports. Now, as one of the league’s best point guards, he’s seen as a crucial piece in the Mavs’ pursuit of a championship.

“There’s no bigger reward than to have that championship trophy in your hand,” said Kidd, who lost in the NBA finals twice with the Nets. “That’s why I’m here. Because Dallas has its eye on that prize.”

The eight-player deal, in the making since before the All-Star break and talked about a lot longer than that, sends Kidd, forward Malik Allen and guard Antoine Wright to Dallas.

The primary piece headed to New Jersey is point guard Devin Harris. The others are center DeSagana Diop, swingman Maurice Ager, forward Trenton Hassell and retired forward Keith Van Horn. New Jersey also gets two first-round draft picks and $3 million.

Van Horn and Hassell replace Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George in an original trade proposal. Stackhouse’s presence in the deal was muddled by plans to get him back to Dallas — within the rules, although in a way the league frowned upon — and George used his veto power to block his involvement.

“It’s been the most amazing, interesting trade we’ve ever done, and we’ve done some doozies here,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said. “I’ve never seen anything like it, but all’s well that ends well. We got the right guys.”

Kidd wasn’t the answer in Dallas a decade ago, and he was shipped to Phoenix after 2 1/2 seasons. Five years later he was traded to the Nets, who went to back-to-back NBA finals in 2002-03.

New Jersey hasn’t made a long playoff run since, and Kidd started talking trade a year ago, when he almost went to the Los Angeles Lakers. He went public with his latest trade demand last month.

“He’s a once-in-a-lifetime type of guy to play with and coach,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. “He’s had an unbelievable impact on everyone in this organization and we wish him nothing but the best.”