Stars stay put -- but check back during the offseason

	All-Stars Vince Carter (left) and Jason Kidd could both be gone after the season as part of a Nets overhaul. Victor Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

Now wasn't that a big waste of everyone's time ...

Mike Bibby, Pau Gasol, Jason Kidd and Vince Carter were on sale. So why did they all go unsold?

As the Thursday trade deadline came and went in Sacramento, Memphis and East Rutherford, N.J., the teams in question each failed to receive the necessary offer it couldn't refuse. It wasn't for lack of trying or courage, as Geoff Petrie, Jerry West and Rod Thorn are not afraid to act on their convictions.

But they're also too smart to behave recklessly, which is why they exercised the discipline to wait until spring when far more options will be available than existed today. It will be easier to make a trade in June than it was in February.

Take Gasol (which is something the Bulls were unwilling to do: They refused to package Luol Deng for him). If a team like Boston fails to win the Nos. 1 or 2 positions in the lottery, would the Celtics include their draft pick in an offer for a 7-foot All-Star? The reason West didn't unload Gasol on Thursday is because he is certain to get more for Gasol four months from now.

At least New Jersey discovered that a market exists for Kidd. The Nets were surprised to receive five "legitimate'' offers from teams that believed Kidd could help them immediately. Unfortunately for the Nets, none of those offers included Lakers 19-year-old center Andrew Bynum, who would have been enough to send Kidd back to his native coast.

There is interest in Kidd despite his current cracked rib injury, birth date (he turns 34 next month), contract (guaranteeing him an additional $40 million over the next two seasons) and the 2004 microfracture knee surgery that still creates apprehension even though he appears to have recovered fully. Did we mention his pending divorce and the hostile cottage industry of microphones, TV crews and bloggers sure to mushroom up around him? He has become the most complicated franchise star this side of the player formerly known as No. 8 Kobe Bryant.

All of the unconsummated trade talk of the last month should result in an overhaul of the Nets in June. They can rebuild around a decent core of Richard Jefferson, rookie point guard Marcus Williams, a lottery pick in this year's deep draft and center Nenad Krstic, who toward the end of next season could be approaching a full recovery from major knee surgery. This week has taught them that they can't expect to fetch a star for Kidd, though they may be able to gain something interesting this summer in a sign-and-trade for Carter.