Dallas ? Jason Kidd appeared headed to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday – until Devean George’s contract got in the way.

George was supposed to be among the players headed from Dallas to New Jersey, but he blocked it because of a virtual no-trade clause as part of a contract status called “early Bird rights.”

After Dallas beat Portland on Wednesday night, Mavs coach Avery Johnson said there was “zero” chance the deal would get done, but added that was “as of now.”

George then said there’s still a chance things can be worked out. He was waiting to meet with his agent, Mark Bartelstein, to discuss their options.

“We’re not trying to hold things up or be difficult, but just like teams make tough decisions all the time – about cutting players or making trades – they do what’s best for their team, and it’s my obligation to do what’s best for Devean,” Bartelstein said during the game. “You don’t want to stop teams from doing their business, but we don’t feel like it makes sense at this time.”

Whether this is a setback or a deal-breaker will be determined in the coming days. The trade deadline is the afternoon of Feb. 21.

The deal was supposed to be George, emerging point guard Devin Harris, veteran Jerry Stackhouse and reserves DeSagana Diop and Maurice Ager going to New Jersey and Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright going to Dallas, according to a league source who spoke on condition of anonymity because it wasn’t finalized.

The obstacle is simply George, who doesn’t want to leave the Mavs.

Word George blocked the trade apparently spread throughout the arena because George said he heard fans hollering things like, “C’mon, what are you doing?” and, “Stop it, you’re holding things up.”