The Dallas Mavericks have fired Jason Kidd as head coach just weeks after installing Masai Ujiri as their new team president, the team unveiled Tuesday.
“Jason has had a meaningful impact on the Dallas Mavericks, both as a Hall of Fame player and as the head coach who helped lead this franchise back to the NBA Finals,” Ujiri mentioned in a statement. “We are thankful for Jason’s leadership, his professionalism and his commitment to the team. In my short time here, I’ve developed an enormous amount of respect for what he has built. He will 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 an NBA Finals. In total, he went 205-205 during his tenure. Last season was a wash as Kyrie Irving spent the year rehabbing his torn ACL and Anthony Davis was traded. If Copper Flagg didn’t fall into their laps, this franchise would still be a rudderless ship lost at sea after Luka Dončić was traded.
But now there’s at least some hope moving forward. Ujiri is seen as a symbol of stability and whoever he hires as his new coach has some nice stuff to work with, namely Flagg and this year’s No. 9 overall draft pick.
Kidd has had his critics everywhere he has coached, but it’s tough to argue with the success he had with the Mavericks. To this day, nobody has really stated how much he had to do with trading Dončić, if he even had any say at all. He swears he was as blindsided as everyone else. That mentioned, Kidd had “expressed a desire” to replace Nico Harrison as president of basketball operations after he was fired in November, but was told that was not on the table, according to ESPN.
Either way, you almost have to get rid of everyone who was in a position of leadership when that trade went down just to get an actual fresh start. Harrison was fired and now Kidd is gone. It’s officially a new day in Dallas.
Coaching hot seat
Kidd joins a growing list of coaching changes this offseason. Doc Rivers stepped away from the Milwaukee Bucks and was replaced by Taylor Jenkins, while 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 coach openings to fill.
