A deal described as "imminent" on ESPN.com yesterday morning didn't get finalized. But it certainly appears that the Mavericks are willing to radically change their team by trading with New Jersey for former Maverick Jason Kidd.

There's a reason Kidd didn't play for the Nets last night, so I would expect the deal to get finalized sometime today.

It may still fall apart, as trades involving stars and multimillion-dollar contracts sometimes do.

But I applaud the Mavericks for making a play for Kidd and an admission that their team as currently constructed was not going to win an NBA title.

With Kidd in the lineup . . . the Mavericks probably still won't win. The West is too strong and too deep to call them the favorites, but at least with a core of Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Terry, the Mavericks are putting themselves back in the discussion.

At least with Kidd they would have a chance.

It was unclear yesterday exactly who could be joining Devin Harris and Jerry Stackhouse in New Jersey — the first report had Devean George in the trade, and he started against the Portland Trail Blazers. According to later reports, George exercised a clause in his contract to block the deal.

But there will be more pieces and draft picks and money, and Mavericks fans should not worry about any of that.

The Mavs with Kidd will be an older team and a team with less depth, but it's a better team regardless.

For years, the Mavericks have had some of the best depth in the NBA. It hasn't earned them a title.

In the NBA, you don't win by worrying about who your sixth-through ninth-best players are. Those are replaceable parts. We have seen that demonstrated time and again.

Superstars come once in a lifetime. Or, in Kidd's case, twice.

With Kidd starting instead of Harris, the Mavericks will be better offensively and worse defensively. They will be a better rebounding team as well.

Two out of three isn't bad, although it's scary to have witnessed some of this team's poorer defensive showings this season and think that things are about to get worse at that end.

Kidd can't do any more than Harris to stop the really good point guards in the West, but he can do a much greater job of challenging them at the offensive end and making them pay.

The Mavericks' assists totals, which have not been good during coach Avery Johnson's tenure, will improve. Nowitzki and Howard and Terry will find themselves getting better shots.

Who knows? Maybe even Eddie Jones will start finding some shots he can hit.

Harris had improved in his fourth NBA season, but it wasn't to the point that it could make a difference. Put him in a series against almost any Western Conference playoff team, and he's up against the Spurs' Tony Parker, the Suns' Steve Nash, the Jazz's Deron Williams, the Warriors' Baron Davis and the Hornets' Chris Paul.

Harris does not perform consistently at those players' level.

Kidd can, and after years of trying to work his way out of a troubled situation in New Jersey, he should play like a man who just received a pardon for a crime he didn't commit.

I don't worry much about Kidd's age. In his last three games, averaging 35 minutes, Kidd averaged 14 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists. There is no reason to think the man can't still be getting triple-doubles next year and on into 2009-2010.

And special nights from Kidd are exactly what the Mavericks need, because these playoffs are going to be a battle for every team that gets in the tournament.

"If you look at the top of the Western Conference from the first spot to the 10th, there's not a lot of separation, unlike any time in my 20 years in the NBA as a coach and a player," Johnson said.

Golden State and Houston both won yesterday to stay tied for the eighth and final spot but just 4 1/2 games behind New Orleans for best record.

"Teams won't be able to coast like we did last year," he said.

And, as we know, the Mavs coasted themselves right out of the playoffs against Golden State.

This year, the Mavericks will be fighting for every victory in April right to the end of the 82-game schedule.

And with Kidd leading the fight, the Mavs would stand a greater chance of providing Dallas fans with a much more satisfying ending.