NBA Rumors: Jason Kidd From Brooklyn Nets to the Bucks?
The latest NBA rumor is surrounding Jason Kidd and his potential departure from the Brooklyn Nets to join the Milwaukee Bucks. If you responded to that with “WTF,” you’re in the same boat as the rest of us. It was originally reported by the New York Post that Kidd asked for (and was denied) a promotion within the Nets organization and is now looking to jump ship in order to get the power he craves.
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Nets ownership didn’t want to give Kidd the top spot in their basketball operations department — understandable considering he has just a year of coaching, much less a history of talent evaluation — so Kidd may be taking his dissatisfaction to the Bucks.
Don’t forget, Kidd signed a four-year, $10.5 million contract with the Nets before last season. It’s unknown if money is a big factor in this, considering Steve Kerr and Derek Fisher just got five-year, $25 million deals this offseason, but it appears to be much more about the title and the power.
Reportedly, Kidd didn’t want current general manager Billy King to be fired, but he was adamant that he’d have a title greater than his and he’d be placed above him in the organization’s depth chart. You’ve got to respect the onions of Kidd for going after a position like this, especially since it’s so rare in this day and age, but what exactly gives him the thought that he deserves this at this point?
The Bucks are a franchise looking to get out of the downward spiral they’ve been on since their last winning season (2009-10, 46-36). They haven’t been out of the first round of the playoffs since 2000-01, when they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals with legendary coach George Karl at the helm. In any event, the Bucks are not a team that has the kind of talent and firepower that the 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets had, nor do they have anything close to the kind of veteran leadership.
Newly drafted Jabari Parker will join O.J. Mayo, Larry Sanders and Brandon Knight to form…a basketball team. I’m not exactly high on their potential, if you couldn’t already tell.
This new position would be an enormous risk for both Kidd and the Bucks. If he succeeds, then the Bucks will be back on the road to being relevant and Kidd will be able to get any job he wants (with tons of power) down the line, similar to how Phil Jackson is today. Make no mistake about it — if Jackson were younger and in better physical condition, he’d be coaching and heading up personnel decisions for the New York Knicks.
If Kidd fails — or at least takes too long to see a turnaround — he’ll severely tarnish his personal brand and he’ll find it tough to ever get a position like this again. Consider the fact that the Nets had one of the more impressive rosters in the NBA in 2013-14 and they had to put up the second best record in the East after the turn of the new year just to get into the playoffs. Then, they were greatly tested by the Toronto Raptors and thoroughly exposed by the Miami Heat. How does any of that say “hey, let’s give this guy all the power and see what happens?”
The Bucks need to make a splash and bring some new life to the franchise. Bringing in Kidd and giving him the power will do that — but it’s going to cost them. Kidd made a lot of mistakes as a rookie head coach and he’ll make mistakes as a rookie in the front office. The difference is, you can make quick adjustments on the court — can’t do that so easily with bad acquisitions.