The one certainty going into the free agency window (which opens tonight), is that the Mavs want Diop back -- so much so that the Mavs might be willing to use their full  mid-level exception to bring him back.

Since that would pretty much end the offseason, most us aren't a fan of that idea, but Sefko says today that the Mavs are trying to acquire Diop through a sign-and-trade, which would leave the Mavs with the MLE to work with.

The Mavericks... are believed to have interest in retaining the services of Devean George, J.J. Barea and Antoine Wright.

One or more of those could be used in a sign-and-trade for DeSagana Diop, who is believed to be one of the Mavericks' top targets in free agency.

How would that be for an ironic twist of fate?  Use Deavan's bird rights to send him to New Jersey for Diop...

Maybe that's how it was drawn up all along.

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Oh, and please keep Antoine Wright.

Eddie Sefko has his latetst mailbag up, and starts it off by saying that Carlisle isn't a sexy hire but is a good one.

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Randy Galloway wants Donnie Nelson to be the next coach. 

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Here's a really annoying article about San Antonio not being in trouble because they are down 0-2.  Why?  Because they aren't Dallas apparently.

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Mike Fisher rounds up all the rumors.

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Gana Diop in an interview for the Nets website.

Where do you think you will be next year?
I mean: I’m a free agent; I’m going to see my options, see what I have out there. Maybe come back here or go back to Dallas. I’m just going to do what is best for me and my family.

Here's how we got to this point:

January 29th:

• Jason Kidd asks the Nets for a trade.
  "It used to be if I got a triple-double, that was an automatic win," he said. "That's just not the case now. We tried to make this work. We've found out it doesn't. It's time for us all to move on."
  Nets President Rod Thorn says they will only trade Kidd if it makes sense for them.
• 
  
• Jeff Caplan quotes Mark Cuban as saying the Mavs are not interested in finding a replacement for Harris.
  
  He also cites a New Jersey paper who is reporting that Dallas has offered Diop, Stackhouse, and George (but not Harris) for Kidd.
• 
  
• Stan McNeal of The Sporting News asks Mark Cuban if a Harris, Diop, Stackhouse, Juwan Howard, George for Kidd trade is possible. Mark Cuban tell him to "Step away from your crack dealer."

January 30th:

• ESPN starts reporting that Dallas, Portland, and New Jersey are working on a three team trade.
  According to league sources and sources close to the team, the Nets would get point guard Jarrett Jack, forwards Travis Outlaw and Channing Frye, a first-round pick and cash from Portland and Devean George, DeSagana Diop, Jerry Stackhouse, a No. 1 and cash from the Mavericks.
  
  Kidd would return to Dallas, where he started his career. The Mavericks also would get Malik Allen and Darrell Armstrong, the sources said. Portland would be getting at least point guard Devin Harris from Dallas.
  This is the first time Devin Harris is mentioned as being a possibility.
• 
  
• Eddie Sefko mentions the possibility of the Nets buying out Stackhouse after any trade.
  Several aspects of that proposal, including a possible buyout of the remainder of Stackhouse's three-year $21 million contract he signed in the summer, would make that deal problematic, to say the least.

January 31st:

• Marc Stein quotes sources as saying the the Nets/Mavs/Blazers trade is pretty much dead.

February 1st:

• Avery Johnson denies all rumors that the Mavs are trying to acquire Kidd.
  "We're not involved," Johnson told reporters. "Anybody has the right to throw out names and speculate, but we're not involved. That's all I can tell (the players). We're not involved. We like our team, we're moving forward with our team."
• 
  
• John Hollinger is so confused as to why the Mavs would trade Harris for Kidd that he wonders if it was all a New Jersey invention.
  In other words, when news of a deal gets leaked out to several New Jersey-based press members involving the Nets getting back several good young ones, two first-round picks, and significant cap relief, one has to wonder about the genesis of such reports.
  
  In particular, one has to wonder if the Nets aren't trying to drive up the price for Kidd by circulating information about a trade that seems preposterous from the vantage point of the other two teams.

February 7th:

• Donnie Nelson says a major trade isn't the way to go.
  "If you start doing that [tearing up the team] and reacting to what other people are doing or their way of thinking, I just think you're setting yourself up for failure. We're interested in the Mavs and what we do here, not the 29 other teams."

It looked like it was all over at this point. Then Dallas played the Nets in New Jersey.

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