The Dallas Mavericks announced on Tuesday evening that the organization and coach Jason Kidd have “mutually agreed to part ways”. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Kidd had four years and well over $40 million left on his contract after being extended twice in both 2024 and 2025. Kidd and former general manager Nico Harrison came to the organization as a package deal in 2021. Now, just over a year after making the defining move of their tenure when they traded Luka Doncic, both Harrison and Kidd are
now out.
There was a certain level of speculation about Kidd’s future when Team President Masai Ujiri fielded questions at his introductory presser. In that, Ujiri said he will give the team a “head-to-toe” examination, including at the head coaching position. We now know the results of that exam. As pointed out by Charania, Ujiri and Governor Patrick Dumont decided to “move on” from the coach early in the week.
The coach will always have a complicated legacy in Dallas, for numerous reasons. As a player, Kidd unceremoniously left just one year removed from winning a championship to sign with the Knicks. Upon his return to Dallas after a stint in coaching rehab with the Lakers under Frank Vogel, Kidd led Dallas to heights it had never seen before, making its first Western Conference Finals since 2011 in his first year at the helm. After a rough 2022-23 campaign, Kidd helped guide Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to win the Western Conference as the fifth seed, before losing to the Boston Celtics in five games in the NBA Finals. Outside of those two fantastic years, Kidd failed to lead Dallas to the playoffs in the other three years of his five-year term in Dallas.
Kidd leaves Dallas with a record of 227-223, including an exactly .500 record of 205-205 in the regular season.
Perhaps what Kidd will be remembered most for is his alleged role in the trade of Doncic. That scene on February 2nd from the press conference room in Cleveland is one that will stick in the memory for Mavericks fans forever. We likely will never know the honest truth on who was responsible for what in that, but what can’t be debated is that ownership and the new front office would like to move forward from the ordeal all together. As the Cooper Flagg era begins in earnest, a clean slate is probably best for everyone.
Per the Mavs, Team President Masai Ujiri will be heading up the search for the next head coach of the team. As the story develops, we’ll continue to update you on Mavs Moneyball.
