Power Rankings: Who wouldn't want this Kidd?

Updated Jan. 29

A kingmaker has now officially put himself out there.

Jason Kidd has done all the right things to secure a trade out of New Jersey. He's played hard and been so productive in notching a league-leading 11 triple-doubles that it's been easy to overlook a shooting percentage that has slipped under 37 percent.

Jason Kidd is ready to look his best in a new jersey. (AP)

Normally, that wouldn't be just nit-picked, but taken apart and dissected given that the buyer who comes in and gets him will have to pony up $21.4 million to have him for next season.

He's 34 years old. He's got a surgically repaired left knee and he's waxing poetic like a retiring surfer about the wave he has ridden in Jersey now being spent.

Contenders normally wouldn't trip over themselves to acquire an aging guard who can't shoot straight, especially when his demand going public hurts his current team's bargaining position. Fortunately for the Nets, this is not a conventional player or situation.

It's the guy deemed the most valuable player on the U.S. National Team that won the FIBAs this past summer despite the fact he attempted one shot per game. It's the player other superstars would surrender millions to have join their team.

New Jersey GM Rod Thorn knows what he has and is under no pressure to appease Kidd immediately. This could've been prevented had the Nets fared better on a road trip in which they blew fourth-quarter leads at Golden State and Minnesota, but they crumbled and are in obvious need of a facelift. Expect this to drag out the way the Allen Iverson situation did in Philadelphia last season.

It might take at least three teams to get a deal done, but New Jersey is looking for expiring contracts, draft picks and one or two young players who will be ready to blossom when the team moves to Brooklyn in 2010 and won't surrender its top commodity for anything less.

Because it makes sense only for a team in contention to take on the financial burden of acquiring Kidd, this situation will differ from Iverson's in that only a handful of teams will seriously inquire about what it may take to get him. That said, phone calls will still go out to teams like the Clippers, Sonics and Knicks, who do have pieces available that can help facilitate a deal.

Rumors are going to start to fly, some of which you can immediately discard, like the one making the rounds that Denver has offered up Iverson.

Another, that a move for Devin Harris would have to wait until the Mavericks point guard mends, also makes no sense. Why would New Jersey pass on exactly the type of player they covet just because he won't be back until mid-February? As it stands now, Mark Cuban has no desire to deal Harris, considered Dallas' long-term solution at the point. If anyone is likely to be moved out of Dallas, it would be veteran Jason Terry, who was dangled in talks with the Clippers during the offseason.

In L.A., Andrew Bynum is obviously off limits, but there's no reason to believe Jordan Farmar is. After all, can you imagine the tantrums Kobe Bryant would throw if he found out Kidd was available and the Lakers didn't pull the trigger? Oh wait, you don't have to. We've already seen what he's capable of.

Ultimately, this might become a bidding war between the Lakers and Mavericks, the two teams most desperate to capitalize on their window of opportunity.

In the race to the 2008 postseason, Kidd looks to be the major domino. This won't happen overnight, because at this point, the Nets have time on their side. However, as the days pass and teams get increasingly desperate approaching the Feb. 21 trade deadline, someone will come up with an offer Thorn will pull the trigger on, giving Kidd a new wave to ride.

The week's Power Rankings: