The Dallas Mavericks fired Jason Kidd as head coach just weeks ago and installed Masai Ujiri as team president, the team announced Tuesday.
“Jason has had a huge impact on the Dallas Mavericks, both as a Hall of Fame player and as a head coach who helped lead the team back to the NBA Finals,” Ujiri said in a statement. “We appreciate Jason’s leadership, efficiency and dedication to the team. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve had a lot of respect for what he’s built. He’ll always be an important part of the Mavericks family.”
Kidd, who reportedly had four years and more than $40 million left on his contract, coached the Mavericks for five seasons, taking them to two conference finals and the NBA Finals. Overall, he went 205-205 during his tenure. Last season was a watch as Kyrie Irving spent the year rehabbing his torn ACL and Anthony Davis was traded. If Copper Flagg hadn’t stepped into their lap, this franchise would have been a ship without wheels lost at sea after the sale of Luka Dončić.
But now there is at least hope going forward. Jiri is seen as a symbol of stability and whoever hires him as his new coach has some good stuff to work with, namely Flagg and the number 9 overall draft pick this year.
Kidd has had his critics everywhere he’s coached, but it’s hard to argue with the success he’s had with the Mavericks. To this day, no one has really reported how much he was making in the Dončić trade, if he had any words at all. He swears he was blindfolded like everyone else. That said, Kidd “expressed a desire” to replace Nico Harrison as president of basketball after he was fired in November, but was told it was off the table, according to ESPN.
Either way, you probably have to fire everyone who was in a leadership position when that trade went down just to get a real fresh start. Harrison was fired and now Kidd is gone. It’s officially a new day in Dallas.
The successors
As is well known, ousting Kidd was Ujiri’s first major move as club president. The second one will be hiring a coach who will shape the future of the Mavericks near Flag. Here are a few words that might fit the bill.
- Sean Sweeney: Jason Kidd’s longtime assistant coach left in 2025 to serve as head coach with the Spurs under Mitch Johnson. Can Dallas bring him back?
- Tom Thibodeau: If the front office wants to go big-name hunting, the former Knicks head coach qualifies.
- Nick Nurse: Sure, he’s still employed by the 76ers, but after president of basketball operations Daryl Morey was fired last week, how much stability is left? Nurse served as head coach under Ujiri in Toronto when the Raptors won the 2019 championship (and was fired by him).
Hot seat training
Kidd joins a growing list of coaching changes this offseason. Doc Rivers left the Milwaukee Bucks to be replaced by Taylor Jenkins, and the New Orleans Pelicans hired Jamahl Mosley to replace interim James Borrego, who stepped in midseason after Willie Green was fired.
Elsewhere, the Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic and Portland Trail Blazers all have head coaching vacancies to fill.
