When asked if the Brooklyn (have to get used to saying that) Net's superstar Jason Kidd will return next season, Nets GM Rod Thorn replied, "I can't say for certain anybody's going to be on our team, [But] I'm not shopping anybody."

Some time within the next week, Kidd - who did not return phone messages Monday, nor did his agent, Jeffrey Schwartz - will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair the left knee damage that plagued him all last season. If severe damage is found, it could affect his ability to start next season on time, not to mention his trademark quickness beyond that.

Next season is also the first of five he has left on the free-agent contract he signed last summer. Cost for those five years: approximately $90 million.

"That's a big red flag," one Eastern Conference general manager said Monday about the effect of all that on Kidd's marketability.

"Even though he's a great player," the GM said, "it's tough to pay a point guard who relies on speed and quickness $20-something million when he's 35, 36."