The fact that the Jason Kidd rumor mill is still percolating at this point may be a good thing for him, but it remains to be seen if the Nets are willing to deal while they’re still in stuck under .500. I’ve said before that I think this team needs a major shake up and that if Jason Kidd wants to leave, the Nets should make a deal.

The rumor today from the Dallas Morning News is that the Mavericks are interested in picking up Kidd due to the fact that they’ve been consistently burned by point guards over the past year and change. Anyone remember how Baron Davis played last year in the playoffs? He played so well as a matter of fact that he was on the back page of the New York Daily News. Think about it. A player on a team on the other side of the country makes the cover of your paper. Nevertheless, the Mavs don’t want to be put in a situation like that again and may want to upgrade at point guard. The only question is, who do the Nets get in return?

I don’t know if there was anyone I’d legitimately want in a trade with the Mavs besides Dirk Nowitzki and we all know that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Jason Terry is a solid player, but it would just be a swap of point guards and the Nets wouldn’t be able to keep their heads above water if they got Terry and another player. If the Nets are smart, they get another player to add help on the bench and get a high pick or two. That is going to be the only way this team is ever able to turn the corner.

Last week I said the Nets were crazy if they traded Richard Jefferson and while I still stick by that, if they were to trade their leading scorer, they’d have to get both someone to fill the gap enough to keep fans interested and someone that could grow with the team. That is the only way this team breaks out and starts doing some real damage.

They’ve already started going in the right direction by cutting Jason Collins’ playing time and giving players like Bostjan Nachbar, Sean Williams, Antoine Wright and Josh Boone more playing time and responsibility. These are going to be the players [with a healthy Nenad Krstic as well] that will be called upon to help this team get over the hump that has stood in their way over the past half decade. Jefferson, Vince Carter and Jason Kidd are all playing solid basketball right now. You can’t ask for more out of these guys. But you can ask for more out of the youngsters like Williams and Boone.

Speaking of Boone, over the past six games, he’s gotten into double figures in points in five of those games and has been averaging over eight rebounds a game. Are they phenomenal numbers? Of course not. But are they better than what Collins could be putting up in that spot. The same goes for Sean Williams, who still has to find a level of consistency, but has shown he can be a double-double guy in the future. With Marcus Williams back and starting to more playing time, I think the Nets bench will start to stand out more and help the team get some W’s.

With two more games this week, we’ll see just how much of a difference Williams and his young teammates can make with their expanded roles.