The New York Knicks have decided whether or not they will try to poach Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd.
When an active head coach is swiped from his current team, that transition is typically enacted via trade. The Boston Celtics, for instance, were compensated with draft equity when they let Doc Rivers depart for the L.A. Clippers in 2013.
More recently, Kidd himself managed to get traded as a coach from the Brooklyn Nets to the Milwaukee Bucks, in exchange for two future second round draft picks, circa July 2014.
Jason Kidd and Anthony Davis during a Dallas Mavericks game.
Jason Kidd and Anthony Davis during a Dallas Mavericks game.
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As a player, Kidd spent his 20th — and final — pro season with New York in 2012-13, averaging 12.6 points on .400/.349/.785 shooting splits, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals across 76 contests (48 starts).
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the Knicks have asked the Mavericks for the green light to interview Kidd for their head coaching vacancy. Sources have informed Charania that Dallas shunned the request.
Kidd seems to have evolved as a two-way head coach during his tenure with Dallas.
During his five years guiding Brooklyn and then Milwaukee, Kidd made the playoffs in three of his four full seasons (he was fired by Milwaukee midway through 2017-18), winning just one series. He struggled to maximize his offenses, even on teams with Hall of Fame-level elite scorers like Paul Pierce and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Things shifted after an assistant coaching stint on the Los Angeles Lakers under head coach Frank Vogel (now a Dallas consultant). Kidd won his first title as a coach in 2020, and signed with Dallas in 2021.
He instantly improved the Mavericks' fortunes, leading the team to a 52-30 record and a surprise Western Conference Finals appearance. He also brought the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals.
Last year, after Dallas shockingly traded five-time All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic to the Lakers (plus big men Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris) in exchange for oft-hurt 10-time All-Stat center Anthony Davis, 3-and-D wing Max Christie, and one draft pick as part of a three-team deal with the Utah Jazz, Kidd did what he could to survive an imbalanced roster. Nine-time All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving played big minutes in Doncic's absence, ultimately tearing his ACL and killing Dallas' playoff aspirations.
The Knicks, who fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after the franchise's first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years this spring, have also reached out to the Houston Rockets about stealing head coach Ime Udoka and the Minnesota Timberwolves about talking to head coach Chris Finch.
Their overtures have been rejected in both instances, Marc Stein of The Stein Line has reported.