NEW YORK -- A year ago, the Brooklyn Nets hired Jason Kidd and traded three first-round picks for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett with the sole goal of winning a championship.
This season, only Garnett remains in Brooklyn.
In his first trip back to New York as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, Kidd spoke about his departure from the Nets after just one season as Brooklyn's coach.
Kidd was granted permission to talk to the Bucks in June and then was subsequently traded for two second-round picks.
"Did I want to be traded?" said Kidd, whose Bucks play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Monday. "I think once [the Nets] OK'd the talk to Milwaukee, that just showed, whatever you want to call it, rumors or no rumors that they wanted to fire me in December had to have some legs."
Kidd was alluding to reports by ESPNNewYork.com and Yahoo! Sports about how management strongly considered making a coaching change last December when the Nets were in the midst of a 10-21 start but Russian ownership stuck with Kidd.
Despite turning things around and leading the Nets to the second round of the playoffs, Kidd and the Nets went through a sudden divorce after sources said the first-time coach sought personnel control in addition to his coaching duties and was rebuffed.
Kidd denied seeking additional power.
"No, I don't need any power," Kidd said. "My [job] is to learn how to be a coach and be the best coach that I can be."
Kidd's split with Brooklyn started a change in direction for the Nets. After letting the world know that they were going championship or broke with the trade for experienced vets like Pierce and Garnett, the Nets opted to let Pierce walk in free agency a year later.
Pierce told NBA.com that the Nets did not make him a contract offer because the team "wanted to cut costs, they felt like they weren't going to be a contender."
"I believe it," Kidd said when asked about Pierce's comments about not being offered a contract. "I mean, if they don't offer [Pierce] a contract worth what a first-round pick is, then why did we do the deal [last year for Pierce and Garnett]?"
Pierce signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Washington Wizards in free agency. The Nets opted not to re-sign the forward with the thinking that they would be no closer to winning a title with the 37-year-old Pierce, who would have cost the franchise perhaps an additional $20 million in luxury taxes. The team decided to add some younger assets to develop with a veteran core.
"They got a plan," Kidd said when asked about the Nets' direction now. "You got to ask [Nets GM] Billy King, [Nets chairman] Dmitry [Razumov] and [owner] Mikhail [Prokhorov]. They have a plan and you just got to go with what the plan is."
Kidd will face his old team for the first time when the young Bucks visit Brooklyn on Nov. 19.
When asked about a comment he made recently to ESPN's Chris Broussard about how "Brooklyn thought that they could do better" in regards to his departure from the Nets, Kidd points to what the Nets have now.
"They got second round picks," Kidd said on Sunday. "I thought they got a coach [Lionel Hollins] and second-round picks."