Jason Kidd may potentially be having a wandering eye.
There is a possibility of the Dallas Mavericks head coach Kidd leaving the team to take the same position with the New York Knicks, Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported this week during an appearance on “The Hoop Collective” podcast. MacMahon, who is on the Mavericks beat, notes that Kidd does not want out of Dallas but adds that there are a number of factors pointing towards the possibility of a move to the Knicks.
“One of the names that’s been thrown out there is a man who’s under contract with another team, but definitely a guy who has relationships not just with Jalen Brunson but with a lot of people in that organization. And that’s Jason Kidd,” said MacMahon, per Hoops Wire. “And what I will say about that is, I would not dismiss that possibility.
“And I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I know or even think that J-Kidd wants out of Dallas,” MacMahon added. “That would be going way too far. What I can comfortably say is there certainly have been decisions, major franchise decisions that have been made, that he was not on board with.”
MacMahon also noted that Kidd is close with veteran NBA trainer Casey Smith, who was controversially phased out by the Mavericks and now works for the Knicks.
The Basketball Hall of Famer Kidd, 52, just completed his fourth season as head coach of the Mavericks and led them to the NBA Finals last year. But signs of a potential disconnect have indeed emerged, namely with Kidd publicly admitting after last February’s shocking blockbuster trade of Luka Doncic that he essentially had no say in the deal before it happened.
Kidd notably played for the Knicks to close out his playing career from 2012-13 and also used to coach Knicks star Jalen Brunson on the Mavericks (as MacMahon alluded to).
With New York having just decided this week to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau, Kidd is one of two currently-under-contract NBA coaches whom the Knicks have already been linked to. Now a Mavericks beat writer in MacMahon thinks that a Kidd move to New York is within the realm of possibilities as well.
