"Do I desire to be traded? No, I don't think so," Kidd said Monday, breaking a summerlong public silence and making his first statement since he saw Kerry Kittles and Kenyon Martin depart to the West in trades.

A likely scenario would have Kidd returning sometime before the Feb. 24 trade deadline, giving other teams an opportunity to gauge whether one of the game's best point guards is still capable of playing at his usual level under a contract that will pay him $90 million over the next five years.

The Nets will use Travis Best, Jacque Vaughn and Zoran Plananic at point guard until Kidd is ready to return.

"We know we're not going to win a championship this year or next year, not with the caliber of guys we have now," said Kidd, who spurned a free agent offer from the San Antonio Spurs two summers ago and signed a six-year deal to remain with New Jersey.

"What can I do? I'm an employee. You can be a disgruntled employee or a happy employee, and I'm choosing to be a happy employee," Kidd said, adding that his family is happy living in New Jersey and he has enjoyed his three years playing on the East Coast.

"Sometimes things just don't go the way you foresee it or dream about. You get a bad set of cards, you have to play the hand out because you never know what will happen," Kidd said. "These are cards we've been dealt, so we'll see what we can make out of it."