• E-mail

Jason Kidd’s career began in Dallas with a young team building for the future.

He returns more than 13 years later to a veteran team that needs to win the title now.

Pressure?

“I’ve never looked at things in life as pressure,’’ Kidd said. “I love the challenge. This is just another challenge. “I’m very excited about it because the talk of being old or not being as good as [Steve] Nash or those other guys. But you win as a team and you lose as a team. That’s the way I’ve always looked at it. I think as a team, we’re going to be excited about this challenge we have in front of us.’’

Kidd is excited for this second chance with the Mavericks. He said he wasn’t bad the first time around, just raw.

He said it wasn’t until he left for Phoenix that he came to understand what it takes to win close games and to be a leader on the floor. He pushed New Jersey to the Finals twice and came up short. Now, he hopes to achieve the ultimate goal with the team that gave him his start in the NBA.

“A lot of us play this game to be a champion, to win the ultimate prize,’’ Kidd said. “That’s why I’m here, because Dallas is a team that has its vision, its eye on the prize, and that is to win the whole thing.’’

The Mavericks have a better chance to do that with Kidd than they did without him.

Q: Bringing Kidd in is a good move. Maybe it’s not enough to win a championship, but it is certainly a move that makes them better now. To all those who think we mortgaged the future, get a grip. The Mavs have a small window to win a championship, they must make a run now. I just wish they’d have tried harder to get Kobe Bryant in the off-season. Oh well. I’m sure that you’ll give your opinion at the top of the newsletter, but I’ll ask you guys what you think about the trade?

Eric Montgomery, Klein Oak

MOORE: I can’t speak for Big Ed since I find it hard to string that many one syllable words together. I’ll let him articulate his view next week. Personally, I like the move. It gives this team a better chance to win the title this season. I think Dirk Nowitzki said it best. Everyone talks about a team’s window to win a championship. He believes the window to win is this year. If they don’t win, the window will be next year.

Kidd props that window up for this season higher than it was before the All-Star break. The Mavericks have been an efficient offense but not a creative one. I think that hurts them in a playoff series when things break down. This will no longer be a paint-by-the-number offense with Kidd. He will make passes and plays this offense hasn’t seen since Steve Nash was in charge.

I also agree with your comment about mortgaging the future. The two picks the Mavericks gave up will probably be late in the first round. For every Josh Howard a team unearths at that stage, there is a Maurice Ager. But this move does put more pressure on the front office to make shrewd free-agent moves and hit on that first-round pick in 2009.

By the way, it didn’t matter how hard the Mavericks tried to get Bryant. It was never going to happen.

Q: So what are those sources of yours saying about Jason Kidd getting a contract extension? We know he wanted one before leaving New Jersey, so is Mark Cuban ready to worsen the Mavs’ already terrible salary cap situation?

Graham Alldredge, College Park, Md

MOORE: Those sources assume the Mavericks will sign Kidd to an extension. If they don’t, and this team doesn’t win a championship, it will be impossible to justify what the team gave up to get him.

I can’t see Cuban giving up that many assets and that much money — he estimates the final deal cost him an additional $17 million from the one he thought he had in place last week — to rent a player for a season-and-a-half. But let’s go straight to the source.

Does Cuban anticipate that Kidd will finish his career in a Mavericks uniform? “I hope so,’’ he said. “But no extension has been planned or discussed.’’

Q: With the 6-4 Jason Kidd coming to the Mavs, will Jason Terry be re-inserted into the starting lineup? He can guard the point guards while Kidd can guard the shooting guards. Jerry Stackhouse can go back to his familiar role of sixth man. Oh, and since I know you and Keith Van Horn are tight, do you think he’ll actually play for the Nets?

Aaron, WI

MOORE: You’re right about Kidd and Terry playing together in the backcourt. Coaches and general managers will tell you Kidd’s best defensive position is shooting guard. This will give the Mavericks the size and rebounding they didn’t have with a backcourt of Terry and Devin Harris.

Kidd and Terry is the backcourt you will see on the floor at the end of close games. That doesn’t mean they will start. Expect Avery Johnson to stick with Eddie Jones or Devean George at shooting guard to open games. He likes the bigger lineup, and he likes bringing Terry off the bench. I don’t think that rotation will change much with Kidd’s arrival.

Q: The Mavs are giving up too much for the old man Kidd. Why didn’t they go after Sam Cassell? He wouldn’t cost nearly as much, and he can score and run the Mavs’ offense. Kidd isn’t that much better than Cassell. I’ve heard Cassell might be available, and you’d only be giving up one player and some cash.

Glenn

MOORE: You think Kidd is old? He’s closer to Miley Cyrus in age than Cassell. OK, maybe that’s a stretch. But Cassell is 37 and will be 38 before the calendar turns. Kidd turns 35 next month.

Cassell would have been a nice move if the Mavericks hadn’t been able to land Kidd. He would have given them some experience at the position and isn’t afraid to take the big shot. He would have been an asset late in close games. Would he have come at a cheaper price? Sure. But he wouldn’t have had as big of an impact on this team as Kidd. And he doesn’t have as much left in the tank.

Q: You guys are the best. One of you wears the sweaters, the other eats the pudding pops. About the Kidd trade, didn’t somebody ask Devean George or his agent before this all went down if he was going to exercise his rights? Isn’t the screw up here on Donnie Nelson or Mark Cuban? This shouldn’t have gone public without an answer to that question. Keep up the good and entertaining work.

Michael, Asheville, NC

MOORE: It doesn’t look good, does it? The Mavericks’ front office assumed George would accept the deal since he had expressed dissatisfaction with his playing time earlier in the month. But you know what they say about assuming.

Cuban has taken a few shots at Mark Bartelstein, the agent who represents George. But Bartelstein acknowledged the complexity of the deal the Mavericks and New Jersey structured and said it was only natural to wait until the end to check with his client.

Here is where the misunderstanding could have occurred. George did tell the Mavericks that he wanted to play and thought it would be better to be on another team if there weren’t minutes for him.

But he also told the club if he got minutes, he didn’t want to go anywhere. He began to get those minutes before the All-Star break, right when the team tried to pull the trigger on the original deal.

Also, I needed to clarify one other thing. I wear sweaters and eat pudding pops. Big Ed just eats.

Q: I am confused about who will end up backing Erick Dampier at center. It looks like that person is not currently on the roster and is not part of the trade. Who is out there that can help the Mavericks at center? And, for the love of God, please don’t tell me that they will just slide Dirk over there.

Brad Lill, Milwaukee, WI

MOORE: You’re confused? Imagine how the Mavericks must feel. This team really likes Brandon Bass. But are they comfortable that he can handle all of the backup minutes that would have gone to DeSagana Diop in a playoff series against San Antonio, Houston, Phoenix or the LA Lakers? No. Do they want to slide Nowitzki over to center for short stretches? Not if they can avoid it. That leaves more minutes for Juwan Howard.

The Mavericks concede they are exploring options at backup center. The team does have a mid-level exception to use.

Q: Over the Kidd deal, I feel bad for Nick Fazekas. The guy had been doing great in the D-League. Are the Mavs going to be re-signing him, and is that possible according to league rules? His numbers are amazing in Tulsa, but that’s all fans see.

Victor in Ohio

MOORE: Fazekas is eligible to sign with any team he wishes, including the Mavericks, once he clears waivers. The issue is whether or not a team has a roster spot for him.

The Mavericks have 13 players on their roster after Tuesday’s trade. They will have a spot for him if he wants to return.

Q: Can other teams claim Nick Fazekas right away? And why was Antoine Wright put in a separate trade rather than including him in the same trade? Do the Mavs have a trade exception for Wright? Where does this trade exception come from?

Herman in Plano

MOORE: Other teams can claim Fazekas if they have a spot on the roster and are willing to assume his salary. Wright was in a separate deal because the Mavericks used the trade exception they received for Anthony Johnson. That would have expired if not used by Thursday.

Q: Do you think perhaps the George blockade and the Stackhouse foot in mouth were intentional in nature? No one seems to be thinking this. Seems the Mavs, in current form, perform best when the chips are stacked against them and they have no expectations. What better way to shake things up than to package half the team to nowheresville, and in essence, put everyone on notice.

Aneesh Dhodapkar, Chicago, IL

MOORE: We love a good conspiracy theory here in Dallas. And you aren’t the only person to pose this question in an e-mail. But I don’t think there was anything intentional about the deal falling apart last week.

I think the Mavericks made a wrong assumption about George, and Stackhouse was talking about what he thought would happen.

Avery Johnson is always finding ways to motivate his team, but he wouldn’t go this far. Let’s say for a moment this was the intent. You might do it to one player, maybe two, but a third of the roster? That’s too risky to locker room chemistry. But I do like the way you think.