The New Jersey Nets' offices are located right down the road from the NBA draft lottery headquarters. You might say, they know the route by heart and are tired of traveling that particular stretch of Route 3.

	Nets like Van Horn will have to get used to seeing the ball more.

So why not get out of the extreme right lane, headed for nowhere, and go for Jason Kidd?

Kidd's the kind of player who can take the Nets in another direction: Away from Secaucus and the lottery and right to the NBA playoffs. That's why it made all the sense in the world for New Jersey to part with Stephon Marbury in what promises to be the summer blockbuster of the NBA trading season.

They're both All-Star guards with impressive portfolios. Kidd, still only 28, is the better all-around player, the tougher defender, the superior rebounder. Marbury, just 24, is the better scorer. If you need someone to score 18 points in the fourth quarter to win the game, you take Marbury.

But here's where Kidd has it over Marbury, at least on this scorecard: He makes players around him better.

I really believe their mindsets are different. Kidd wants his teammates to succeed. With Marbury, they're strictly along for the ride.

Marbury wants to be the man, wherever he is. So he forced that trade out of Minnesota back in 1999. He was a fool to leave Kevin Garnett, when the two of them could have been the second coming of Stockton-to-Malone. But Marbury always feels he has to be the man. Just as he'll want to be in Phoenix. Did you hear what he said about the deal? He talked about joining a winning team, but then he said: "It will make my career go through the roof."

You detect a little selfishness in that? The Suns just better hope that the careers of their other players don't drop through the floor.

	Marbury

	Kidd

Marbury will have to remember to get the ball to Shawn Marion, Clifford Robinson and Rodney Rogers. Maybe Penny Hardaway, too, if he can ever get healthy again.

Maybe Marbury will help the Suns sell out America West Arena again and shake them out of what owner Jerry Colangelo calls their current "malaise." Apparently, they were getting bored in the valley of the sun with Kidd, who was never Kevin Johnson in the eyes of the locals. But can Marbury get them 50 wins, which was always a lock when Kidd played in Phoenix?

Fifty-win seasons just weren't enough anymore. Maybe it was the fact that the Suns couldn't advance past the first round in four of the five post-seasons that Kidd played in Phoenix? That also played into their decision to unload the future Hall of Famer. But go look at their frontcourt and you'll also be asking, "where's the beef?" The Suns always have been undersized and soft up front, a serious shortcoming when they get into the Western Conference paint wars in May.

Out in the swamps of Jersey, they're going to be elated to just have Kidd lead them to the playoffs. Since Chuck Daly left after the 1994 season, they've been to the post-season only once. They haven't hit 50 wins in a season since 1976. That five-minute drive to the lottery ceremony every May was getting a little old.

"We're getting the best point guard in the league," said Nets president Rod Thorn.

The man popping the champagne bottle has to be Keith Van Horn.

"Van Horn could be the biggest beneficiary of this," said Magic coach Doc Rivers. "He's a pick-and-roll player and Jason is a pick-and-roll guard."

Marbury was always a me-first guard, as Van Horn undoubtedly noticed all the times he stood on the side and watched Marbury look for his own shot. Van Horn picked, Marbury rolled, with the ball.

The two never hit it off on the court. For all their injury problems -- Jayson Williams, Kerry Kittles, and on and on -- that was even more damaging to the star-crossed franchise. When your two best players can't work together, it's incumbent to make a change. In their two full seasons together, Marbury and Van Horn combined for only 57 wins. In the East, where you can almost get to the playoffs by default, that's embarrassing.

Now Van Horn gets Kidd, who will look to get Van Horn involved. During the Finals, Phil Jackson linked Tim Duncan and Van Horn together as "impact players." They were taken 1-2 in the 1997 draft. But anyone who's seen Van Horn struggle in New Jersey knows that he's yet to have nearly the impact of Duncan. At least now he has a better chance. But the Nets will still need more talent to help Kidd take them where they want to go.

At least they shouldn't be exiting off Route 3 in Secaucus come May.

	Brand

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