A league source with knowledge of the situation said the Nets are exploring all options to move the point guard and have been granted permission by ownership to trade him.

Finding the right deal is the hard part, but the Nets are exploring numerous scenarios. Some include more than two teams that would "gut the franchise," one source said. The Nets are expected to be one of the most active teams leading up to the Feb. 21 trade deadline.

One scenario would have Kidd returning to Dallas, where he started his career, and probably would include another team. The Nets, the source said, would get Devean George, DeSagana Diop and draft picks. Jerry Stackhouse may have to be added to make it work financially, but there likely is more involved.

Nets president Rod Thorn said nothing is close to happening, but he and special assistant Kiki Vandeweghe have been working the phones. The Mavericks, Lakers, Nuggets and Cavaliers have the most interest in Kidd, who wouldn't mind returning to the Western Conference.

The Nets also are gauging the interest level in Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson. Kidd has the greatest value, though, because title contenders think he could get them over the hump.

"At the end of the day I would be surprised if he wasn't moved," said one Eastern Conference official. "Of Kidd, Carter and Jefferson, Kidd's the easiest one to move."

Still another official guess-timated the chances of Kidd being traded were about "20 percent."

Earlier in the day, Kidd denied a report that he instructed his agent to seek a trade and Thorn wouldn't comment on the story.

"I don't have any comment about players," Thorn said. "We talk to players, talk to other teams, those conversations as far as I'm concerned are privileged conversations."

People close to Thorn, however, said he's grown tired of Kidd, who didn't seem that broken up over the Nets' ninth consecutive loss Sunday night.

Kidd hasn't been happy since the Nets followed their franchise-best matching start of 4-1 with six consecutive losses. He also is upset that the Nets didn't extend his contract.

In December, Kidd missed a game against the Knicks because of what the Nets called a migraine. But sources inside and outside of the organization contend it was a staged protest to try and get the extension.

Kidd, whose current deal expires after next season, was seeking a one-year extension in the $13 million to $15 million range. Now that the season is half over, a source close to the player, says Kidd no longer wants one year tacked on, but is seeking a two-year extension.

The Nets aren't going to do that. He would be 38 when that deal would expire and the Nets aren't convinced Kidd will be an elite player still at that age.

One NBA source said at least one player went to Thorn after the December incident and suggested the Nets move Kidd because he doesn't want to be here. Thorn, however, denied that.

The Nets seemed to recover, winning seven of eight games during one stretch. But one official called that "a Band-Aid." The Nets' leader has given off signals that he doesn't want to be on the team, which affects everyone.

Calls to Kidd's agent Jeff Schwartz were not returned.

"I have no idea where that came from," Kidd said of the report he wanted to be traded. "Not to my knowledge has Jeff asked for a trade or anything like that.

"Yeah, I want to be here. We're in a hole right now. We're just trying to find a way to get out of it. Whatever someone speculated that Jeff said that goes with losing. That's just the way it goes sometimes."

The Nets often play without energy and passion and there appears to be an overall malaise on the court and in the locker room.