I'll preface this blog by stating up front I think the Jason Kidd trade is a bad idea for the Mavs, but then again, how many trades ever really work out (the last one I can think of that actually delivered a title was Shaq to Miami).

Now, on to my take on Devean George's hold out on being traded so he doesn't lose his "Early Bird" rights.

The issue at hand is whether or not he will be giving up any money by allowing himself to be traded, or staying with the Mavs where he can get resigned for UP TO 175% of his current salary (2.4 mill). 

Bear in mind those two words in caps - UP TO.  There's nothing saying the Mavs have to sign him for anything more than he is making right now, and as for his "worth" to other NBA team, allow me to copy in an interesting factoid from his Wikipedia profile:

After the end of the 2006-07 NBA season, George became an unrestricted free agent. The Mavericks gave him and his agent a chance to opt in or opt out of a possible second season with the Mavericks at $2.16 m. As of June 30, George decided to opt out of a second season with the Mavericks but eventually, with no other choices, re-signed on July 9 to a $2.5M deal

SO let's see here, he tested the waters on this last off season, and found NO ONE WANTED him, so he was left with no choice but to take what the Mavs were offering.  Now, at last, there is another team that wants him, and he wants to stay put for what?  Maybe he would get a cost of living raise of about 100k, but do you think the Mavs are going to want to resign him after this? 

I tend to lean towards Charles Barkley's statement of "if the team you're on don't want you, then just GO."  Never was this more true of Devean George, a man with all the talent to be a true force in the league but has let money and whomever whispers in his ear make him feel he is better than he is.  He is averaging 4 maybe 5 points a game right now, and he makes over 2 mill a year.  Most players can't even get a tryout with an NBA team for those kinds of numbers. George might think one thing, but the reality is that the ship has sailed on his Mavs career, or they wouldn't have traded him.  Who is this guys' agent again, and what planet does he reside on ?

No GM will sign him after this mess because he's just proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is all about the money, and not about the effort required to EARN that money.  In the two games he played since the trade fiasco began, he's been a useless non factor, and for this he wants more money.  He will be lucky if next year he doesn't have to wear a "will do layups for bling' sign around his neck to find another team interested in him (then again, maybe the Washington Generals will be hiring)

Maybe the Nets DID get lucky after all - they just avoided adding more dead weight to their ship! :)