16 Players the Dallas Mavericks gave up on way too soon

2. Jason Kidd

The Mavs selected Kidd second overall in 1994, and he quickly became one of the league’s best point guards. He shared Rookie of the Year honors with Grant Hill in 1995 before becoming an All-Star in year two. The future Hall of Famer and current Mavericks head coach did not see a third full season in Dallas until 2009.

It is not often a team trades away a budding star in his early 20s, but it became necessary as their young roster was feuding. Jamal Mashburn and Jim Jackson were fighting over touches, and Kidd developed a feud with Jackson that involved singer Toni Braxton. The Mavs went through three coaches, continued to lose, and did not get along. It was a recipe to blow things up.

Kidd was traded to Phoenix in Dec. of 1996 in a six-player deal that netted the Mavericks Michael Finley. He cemented himself as an all-time great over the next decade, including leading the Brooklyn Nets to two NBA Finals before returning to Dallas in 2008. J-Kidd was the starting point guard on the Mavericks' 2011 title squad and will forever be a franchise legend.

The Dallas Mavericks missed out on most of Jason Kidd’s prime years because their roster was a disaster that could not get along. J-Kidd’s return gave this one a happy ending, but it was still regrettable to lose out on the best years of one of the 75 best players in NBA history.