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In an almost incomprehensible turn of events, it appears that Mavericks' scrub Devean George is going to prevent the Jason Kidd trade to Dallas from going through, at least for now. ESPN's Marc Stein has the latest:

Mavericks reserve forward Devean George has unexpectedly exercised his right to block the trade, according to NBA front-office sources. Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that the teams verbally agreed to the deal earlier Wednesday and were preparing to submit the trade for league approval when George informed the Mavericks that he wouldn't consent to being included in the deal, which is his right based on a rare provision in his one-year contract.

Just ... wow. I'm absolutely stunned at this, for a couple of reasons. One, George was absolutely begging to be traded a week ago because he was buried on the Mavericks' bench, which is no good for a player who's looking for a big contract after the season. And two, it's Devean freaking George! Who the [heck] is giving a bench player like this a no-trade clause, especially as part of a one-year contract?!

This is a truly crazy development in what was about to be the third blockbuster trade the NBA has witnessed this season. It remains to be seen whether Dallas will find some other way to pull this deal off, which I would say is fairly likely considering George is only contracted for $2,369,111 this year. But maybe this will give the Mavs some extra time to realize that this deal might not be in their best interest after all.

UPDATE: It's not a "no-trade clause" as I had thought. It turns out it's called "Early Bird rights," a provision earned by being in his second year and on his second contract with the Mavericks. Whatever.