After a few mishaps, shake-ups and slips of tongue, the Jason Kidd deal is finally complete. Now, in a matter of days, Kidd will suit up with the same team that drafted him 2nd overall in 1994 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks.

With the trade speculation behind us, now we can carry on getting excited for the second-half of the NBA season!

The original deal had the Mavs giving up Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, Devean George, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, $3 million and two first-round picks for the Nets’ Kidd and Malik Allen. The finalized deal swaps out the Mavs’ Stack and George for Trenton Hassell and newly re-signed retiree-to-be (aren’t they all?) Keith Van Horn. Also, the report mentions a $1.6-million trade exception, but I am not so keen to elaborate on how that fancy two-step works.

Just so you know, I stand by my original statement that the Mavs are the losers in the deal –

What happens to Dallas’s depth at that point? How do they keep up with the fast-running Suns (yes, even with Shaq Daddy) and the super-deep returning champ Spurs? Is it worth unloading Diop and Harris (two of their best defenders) just to get one great but aging point guard?

I think not.

But maybe the Mavs are just trying to keep up with the Joneses (Lakers & Suns) by making a move — any move — for a big name to join them in the arms race out West. Not that Kidd isn’t great — he most definitely is — but the apparent imbalance makes it believable that panic caused Mavs owner Mark Cuban to keep nodding his head as the Nets kept piling on the demand request (dessert) tray.

The Mavs are making it clear they want to win yesterday, and have no qualms in mortgaging their future (don’t mind my use of phrase presidential hopeful Barack Obama keeps saying on the campaign trail) to reach that goal.

Retaining George, a 3-time NBA champion, does help the Mavs in this revised deal. He has lots of experience (as is exemplified with the championship titles at such a young age) and is one less vital piece they had to give up. But still, they gave up a lot — too much even — to get get their Kidd.

Just to pile on top: With Kidd shooting 36% from the field, teams will be 100% more fearful of him contributing the game-winning toss, and less of him hitting the game-winning shot.