EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -The New Jersey Nets might need to get used to not seeing Jason Kidd at practice.
The team returned to the court Monday without their All-Star point guard, whose status remained in limbo while rumors persist that his trade to the Dallas Mavericks is growing increasingly imminent.
The deal reportedly has Kidd, forward Malik Allen and guard Antoine Wright going to Dallas for point guard Devin Harris, center DeSagana Diop and swingman Maurice Ager, plus retired forward Keith Van Horn and Trenton Hassell. New Jersey also will get two first-round draft picks and $3 million.
Kidd, Allen and Wright were excused from the workout Monday. Meanwhile, the trade was awaiting the league’s approval.
“I advised Jason, Malik and Antoine to stay home,” Nets head coach Lawrence Frank said after the practice, which was attended by only seven healthy players. “Once there is closure with the whole situation, they’ll either be with us or won’t be with us. We decided to give it all another day. It’s going to be one way or the other. We’ll see what happens.”
The trade apparently is predicated upon whether Van Horn will sign a contract with Dallas.
As of Monday night, Van Horn, who played five seasons with the Nets from 1997 through 2002, had not decided whether to accept the deal.
Van Horn has not played since the 2006 NBA finals with the Mavericks. They still hold his playing rights because Van Horn never officially filed retirement papers with the league.
As the Nets convened Monday night, Kidd was still property of the Nets, but it was not known for how much longer.
“This potential trade has certainly been a bizarre situation,” Frank said. “But it’s one of those things you can’t control. It would be silly to think that it is not out there. Everyone knows that it is. I’ve just never been involved with anything like this. It’s all just part of the journey.”
Frank said he spoke with Kidd earlier in the day, but didn’t want to discuss what they talked about. He also didn’t want to speak about the trade, referring all questions to team president Rod Thorn.
Vince Carter arrived at the practice session late. His flight from his home in Orlando, Fla., was delayed for two hours by bad weather. He tried to make light of the entire situation.
“What’s been happening? I didn’t know,” Carter said with a laugh. “I’m just trying to stay out of it. That’s why I went to Florida. It’s been on and off for a week. We just have to see what happens and then get back to work. I think it’s obvious that if it (the trade) goes through, then everyone here will have to chip in. We just have to find out what happens. Everything should be OK. I think we’ll find out what kind of character we have. It may bring us closer together as a unit.”
Richard Jefferson, who’s usually upbeat, was reserved when speaking with reporters.
“It’s part of the business,” Jefferson said. “I think we all understand that. I really don’t see much changing. We’ll find out what happens. This is nothing new. There have been (trade) talks for two years.”
The Nets return to action Wednesday night at home against the Chicago Bulls.
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