Jason Kidd has never been one to linger where he isn’t wanted — or where the writing’s on the wall. And now, with the New York Knicks head coaching job unexpectedly open, a slow, quiet pivot might already be underway.
He won’t say it out loud. Neither will the Mavericks. But this isn’t just smoke. This is a well-timed opportunity. And Kidd knows it.
Let’s rewind.
When he took over as head coach in 2021, Jason Kidd shocked the NBA world by guiding Luka Dončić and a ragtag cast of overachievers past the number one seed Phoenix Suns in a Game 7 demolition on Phoenix’s home floor. Then he steered that team into the Western Conference Finals — only to lose, expectedly, to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.
The following year? Disaster. The Mavericks attempted to address their size issues with JaVale McGee and Christian Wood, and it imploded. Only a tank-job at the end of the season saved their pick — the one that became Dereck Lively II. Kyrie Irving arrived via midseason trade, and the vibes stabilized just enough to keep hope alive.
Then came 2023–2024. Kyrie and Luka clicked. The team gelled. And they marched to the NBA Finals.
That should’ve been the story. A flawed team finding magic. A coach proving he could evolve. A duo ready to run it back in 2024–2025.
Instead? Luka Dončić was traded. Nico Harrison’s obsession with names from his Nike Rolodex led him to ship out a generational superstar for a crumbling Anthony Davis. It broke the fanbase, fractured trust, and left Kidd to manage a team built on two timelines: the brittle now (Davis and Kyrie) and the potential future (whatever hope the draft could bring).
Then the Mavericks got lucky.
With just 1.8% odds, they landed the No. 1 pick. The clear path to Cooper Flagg. A new era dropped into their lap.
And that’s when the clock on Kidd’s tenure may have truly started ticking.
Because you can’t ride two horses with one saddle. You can’t build around a teenager while pretending Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving will give you 65+ healthy games apiece. Not in this league. Not in this economy.
If the Mavericks draft Flagg, they’re choosing a timeline. And even if they keep Davis and Kyrie for now, the long-term is clearly headed somewhere younger. Somewhere slower. Somewhere not built for Jason Kidd’s legacy aspirations.
The Knicks offer something Dallas can’t: a clean slate and a hungry veteran roster who must feel like they let a golden chance slip through their fingers with their upset loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals. Now here they sit for Kidd — a big market. A shot at rewriting the final act. A team needing a players’ coach veterans are less likely to tune out like they did with Tom Thibodeau.
And Kidd knows New York. He chose them in free agency after the 2011 title. He has ties, relationships. A narrative.
If he leaves now, he avoids the guillotine that may fall on Nico Harrison midseason. He sidesteps having to explain nightly why Cooper Flagg is playing through rookie mistakes while Davis sits in street clothes and Kyrie rehabs an ACL. He exits on his own terms.
And if he goes? Kyrie might go, too. He has an opt-out. And without Kidd, the trust and chemistry they built might dissolve. If Kyrie walks, Davis becomes a trade candidate almost immediately. And if that happens, so does Nico.
So yes, this is about Jason Kidd. But it’s also about how everything unravels. The first domino that leads to a new era of Dallas Mavericks basketball — leaving behind both the great memories of unexpected highs and the deep wounds of unforgivable blunders. Well, the wounds will remain, but at least the architect and his dutiful coach would be elsewhere.
Jason Kidd might not be the villain of the story. He might just be the first one to read the last page — and decide he doesn’t like the ending.