R.I.P. Jason Kidd's career

Already training for a new career? I guess it's time for me to come out of the closet and admit something for the first time on this site. I'm a Dallas Mavericks fan. And not just your regular, run-of-the-mill Mavs fan.  I'm a die-hard, life long MFFL (Mav Fan For Life) and I've suffered through enough torture to last 20 lifetimes.  I've been forced to watch a front-court of Terry Davis and Doug Smith, experience awful lottery luck, 11 and 13-win seasons, the breaking up of the three J's, and the coaching regimes of Jim Cleamons and Quinn Buckner.   I'm not even going to mention Golden State or the collapse in the Finals against the Heat.  But yet, I still keep coming back.  You would think that I would be used to the disappointment by now, but what is happening in the NBA Playoffs right now blows my mind and actually might be the worst kick to my Maverick junk yet.  We are watching the final nail be driven into Jason Kidd's career right before our eyes. Let me just go ahead and say that I've never really liked Jason Kidd - not even when he was making his first round with the Mavericks.  BUT, I can acknowledge that he was, at one time, one hell of a point guard and, possibly, one of the best of all-time.  But, the problem with this "Jason Kidd: Part Deux" is that this model of Jason Kidd is terrible.  Absolutely awful.  The guy is a shell of the former player that he once was and, with no disrespect to Chris Paul intended, it is absolutely killing the Mavericks.  Take a look at how his career has evolved. Even during his his first stroll through Dallas, he was chastised for not being able to stick a jumper.  They used to call him:

Ason Kidd

Well, now that he's scoring 10.8 ppg and shooting 38% from the field, both career lows (other than an injury shortened third season), it's safe to say he has no offensive game left either.  I give you:

Asn Kidd

Well, if you've watched him try to guard Chris Paul at any point in the first two games of this series or in their two regular season games, where Paul has worked him to the effect of 34 points and 14 assists, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he can't play defense anymore. Sadly, you have:

Asn Ki

So, basically what the Mavericks did is trade away their starting center, starting point guard, two bench players, a white guy with sweet socks, two first round draft picks and any possibility of being competitive in the last half of Dirk's career for a 35 year-old Japanese center fielder.  And, it kills me inside. What we are watching, folks, is the end of the Jason Kidd era - and it's not ending the way we usually want our stars to go out.  It's ugly and even more unbearable than the NBA Playoffs usually are.  It would have been much easier if Kidd could have just handed that hypothetical torch to Paul before the start of Game 1 and spared the world the four (five if they're lucky) games of Kidd being old and over-matched. It's really killing me.