Over the last week or so, the main chatter around the Dallas Mavericks has shifted from them drafting Cooper Flagg in just over two weeks to their head coach potentially leaving for the New York Knicks. Despite having a few years left on his contract, the Knicks want Jason Kidd to be their next coach to replace Tom Thibodeau.
Badly.
According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the Knicks "absolutely would like to hire Jason Kidd to be their next head coach." This isn't just the Knicks wanting to interview Kidd to see if they like him. They want Kidd to take over and become the head coach of the team for years to come, and this entire saga continues to get new updates by the day.
The Knicks are locked in on Jason Kidd as their next coach
It seems like the Knicks are all in on bringing Kidd to New York (if possible), and the ball is now in Nico Harrison and the Mavericks' court to do something about it and prevent it. The easiest thing for the Mavs to do to shut down all of the rumors would be to deny the Knicks' request to interview Kidd, and while they are expected to do that once the Knicks ask them, it hasn't been confirmed that is what they would do.
Dallas not making it clear that they would deny New York's request to interview Kidd is what is keeping all of the chatter going, and that is why these rumors have gotten to this point. The Mavs should have followed exactly what the Houston Rockets did, which is making it clear that they would deny the Knicks' request to interview Ime Udoka, and now all of this talk surrounding Kidd and his potential departure has reached awkward levels.
It has even been reported that the interest between Kidd and the Knicks is mutual, and Mavericks fans are on the edge of their seats. Kidd, Harrison, and Leon Rose are seemingly all waiting for the other to make a move, but everyone is standing pat.
Windhorst made it clear that the Knicks want Kidd to be their coach, before even interviewing him, and now everyone is waiting on New York to formally ask the Mavericks if they can do that.
If Dallas were to accept this request from the Knicks, that would almost guarantee that Kidd would be leaving, and they would destroy all of the coaching continuity that they have built over the last few years. Kidd is one of the better coaches the Mavericks have ever had, as he led them to their third NBA Finals appearance in franchise history in 2024 while also leading them to the Western Conference Finals in 2022.
On top of his playoff success, Kidd is also the definition of a players' coach, as his guys love playing for him. Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis specifically share close bonds with Kidd, and their futures with the Mavs could change in the blink of an eye if Kidd left to be the coach of the Knicks.
The Mavericks hold this situation in the palm of their hands, as they could end this entire Kidd rumor mill immediately if they wanted to, and them not doing that yet is a bit concerning when thinking about Kidd's future with the team. The Kidd-to-Knicks rumors have gotten to the point where they are in jeopardy of distracting the team from their main goal, as Flagg is coming to meet with the team next week.
It would be in the Mavs' best interest to end all of the Kidd rumblings by making it clear that they would deny the Knicks permission to interview him if they asked, and we'll have you covered with all the latest.