Jerry Stackhouse's big mouth jeopardizes Kidd trade even more

[Halu Sination]

League to look at Stackhouse's comments
 
NEW ORLEANS – As the New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks feverishly worked to convince Devean George to join in the trade for Jason Kidd on Thursday, there suddenly loomed another issue that could obliterate the proposed deal: the loose lips of Jerry Stackhouse.

The NBA will investigate the possibility the Mavericks and Stackhouse violated league rules with a prearranged agreement for the forward to return to Dallas after reaching a contract buyout in New Jersey and sitting out the 30-day waiting period, sources said. Several league sources said the NBA will consider forbidding Stackhouse to re-sign with the Mavericks this season as punishment for public comments the forward made on Wednesday that suggested tampering could have occurred.

If it comes to that, the deal is dead. Dallas owner Mark Cuban wouldn't complete the trade for Kidd without a belief that he could bring back Stackhouse this season. Ultimately, sources say, Mavericks management decided that losing Stackhouse would be too hard of a hit to the Mavericks' depth, too steep a price to pay for Kidd.

For the Mavericks, the trouble started when Stackhouse, 33, gave an interview to the Associated Press on Wednesday that suggested there was a plan for how his trade, buyout and eventual re-signing with Dallas would unfold.

Stackhouse said that he was only part of the deal "to make the numbers work."

What's more, he said, "I feel great. I get 30 days to rest then I'll be right back. I ain't going nowhere."

Even if George changes his mind on Friday about agreeing to waive his "Early Larry Bird Rights" and accept the trade to New Jersey, sources said the league office will not immediately approve the trade. With angry rival executives across the league expressing outrage over Stackhouse's comments, as well as the NBA's own issues and suspicions with the comments, senior VP of basketball operations Stu Jackson is obligated to look deeper into the matter.

The NBA doesn't allow such prearranged agreements. The rest of the league is required to have a fair chance to sign Stackhouse in the 30 days before he is eligible to re-sign with the Mavericks. It doesn't help appearances that Stackhouse and Kidd share the same agent, Jeff Schwartz.

When several league executives read Stackhouse's comments on Wednesday, they were irate and privately promised to protest if Stackhouse ends up passing on leaguewide offers and returns to the Mavericks.

"It sounds like a side deal, doesn't it?" one Eastern Conference executive said. "The league will have a lot of explaining to do if Stackhouse goes back to Dallas."

Another general manager said, "I thought it was the most blatant statement someone could make about a trade. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the league disallowed Stackhouse to go back to Dallas. Stackhouse is too impulsive and is prone to say stuff like that which could really end up hurting Dallas."

Finally, a third GM said, "It's caused a lot of people to wonder how they could get away with that, how those kind of pre-existing arrangements can be allowed."

For now, it is clear the trade that would send Kidd and Malik Allen to Dallas for George, Stackhouse, Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop and Maurice Ager, two first-round picks and $3 million is stuck. Before the Mavericks' 109-97 loss to the Suns in Phoenix on Thursday night, agent Mark Bartelstein insisted that his client hadn't changed his mind about vetoing his trade to the Nets.

"There's nothing new," Bartelstein said. "Right now, he's just focusing on playing for the Mavericks."

Between now and next Thursday's trade deadline, the Nets and Mavericks are exploring scenarios that still include George and a sign-and-trade with Keith Van Horn, but the Stackhouse case could make everything else irrelevant. Across the league, there's a belief that Stackhouse revealed too much with his words and the NBA plans to take a hard look and ask the obvious question: Is there strong enough evidence of a pre-existing agreement between the Mavericks and Stackhouse that deserves punishment? If they league decides there is, and refuses to let him re-sign with the Mavericks, the results could be devastating for Dallas.

No trade.

No Kidd.

It would be a steep price to pay for the loose lips of Jerry Stackhouse.

[Halu Sination]

maybe devean george didn't have to play the "bad guy" after all. i had no idea that stack and kidd had the same agent... that just looks terrible on their part.

[wcsoldier]

C'mon now, I dont see what the pb is .. all these executives are butt hurt that some teams are making deals while their pathetic teams cant ..

[7even]

I was wondering the same thing when I read those Stackhouse comments a couple days ago. He was a little too unshamed. If he would have said "If my contract gets bought out, my first choice would be the Mavericks, as I really like it here" the same message would have been brought across, but in a adequate manner. Oh man, lol. Let's just sign-and-trade Van Horn for 12 million and make Cuban go broke, lol

[GangstaBoogy]

What's more, he said, "I feel great. I get 30 days to rest then I'll be right back. I ain't going nowhere."

Stupidass.

[Bch]

lol he obviously doesnt wanna leave dallas, i bet he feels like hes a peice of meat reality is setting in the NBAs a buisness and your just an entertainer

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I don't get it...if it's not against the rules, what the fuck is the problem? LOL

[OG Hack Wilson]

crazy

[Fuck Your Existence]

I don't get it...if it's not against the rules, what the fuck is the problem? LOL

[Halu Sination]

lmao, looks like the trade aint fallin thru if mark cuban really is that unwilling to split with stack

The chances of Jason Kidd wearing a Dallas Mavericks uniform this season are shrinking by the day.

First, Devean George refused to consent to the trade to New Jersey. Now, according to a league source, the league will not allow the Mavericks to bring back Jerry Stackhouse if he is traded and subsequently waived by the New Jersey Nets.

According to one league source, the NBA has already made one of the teams aware of its position.

"The league has taken Stackhouse out of the deal," the source said. "They said, 'He can be in the trade, but he can't go back to Dallas after that."'

A call asking for comment from NBA league officials was not immediately returned.

The willingness of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to include Stackhouse in the trade was based on his knowledge that New Jersey would immediately buy him out of his contract, which would allow Stackhouse to re-sign with Dallas after 30 days.

It was Stackhouse's brazen response to the potential trade on Wednesday that first put the league on notice.

"I get 30 days to rest, then I'll be right back,'' Stackhouse told The Associated Press on Wednesday in response to the proposed trade. "I ain't going nowhere."

Neither apparently is George. Mark Bartelstein, George's agent, said this afternoon that his client is no longer thinking of rescinding his decision. George's refusal is based on the fact that a trade would cost him his "early Bird rights" and therefore the bulk of his leverage as a free agent this summer.

"Anything is possible, but as of now, it's not something Devean's considering," Bartelstein said.

The Mavericks, whose locker room could be in shambles if the Kidd deal doesn't go through, are desperately seeking other alternatives. They are looking at replacing Stackhouse and George in the trade with Trenton Hassell and Keith Van Horn.

But a person with knowledge of the talks said the Nets are leery of taking Hassell because he has two seasons, worth a total of $8.6 million, remaining on his contract after this season.

The source added that while other teams, most notably Cleveland and Denver, are pursuing Kidd, there is no other "realistic" destination out there, and that Kidd would most likely remain with the Nets if nothing can be worked out with Dallas.

The 30-day rule was added to the league's collective bargaining agreement as a response to a trade between Boston and Atlanta in 2005. In that deal, Boston sent Gary Payton to Atlanta to reacquire Antoine Walker with the understanding that the Hawks would immediately waive Payton, who then re-signed with Boston three days later.

The league frowned on this move, and instituted the 30-day rule. By flouting the rule so publicly, Stackhouse may have given the league no choice but to eliminate him from the deal or prevent the Mavericks from re-signing him.

"If Stackhouse had kept quiet, the league would not have been able to prove anything," a Western Conference executive said.

The executive added that team owners have been calling commissioner David Stern to complain about the Stackhouse part of the deal, and that several GMs would have been incensed if he had allowed the trade -- and subsequent return of Stackhouse to Dallas -- to go through.

"Every GM from a potential playoff team in the Western Conference is complaining about this,'' the executive said. "If the league allows this trade to go through, it'll have a major credibility issue on its hands. Our collective bargaining agreement's not worth anything if this goes through.''

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3247183

[7even]

All this is so gay lol

[Halu Sination]

lol. well did u see devin harris crying wen they tried to interview him the day they thought he was already traded? this shit is getting bizarre but at least one guy will be extremely happy because of this.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I feel bad for the Mavs...You know if the traded doesn't go through, this is whole thing is gunna do some serious mental damage to the team. LOL