Not much time has passed since the New York Knicks made a shocking decision to relieve head coach Tom Thibodeau of his duties after he spent five seasons steering the ship in New York and coached the team to four playoff appearances.
Yet, folks are already speculating as to who the Knicks will hire to fill Thibodeau’s shoes. One person who’s been tossed around in rumors is currently employed as a head coach in the league.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon recently said he wouldn’t “dismiss” the possibility that Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd becomes the Knicks’ newest head coach, and that was before NBA insider Marc Stein reported on Friday that New York is expected to request permission to speak with Kidd.
MacMahon, while explaining his own comments about Kidd and the Knicks, noted that there have been “major franchise decisions” made by the Mavs that Kidd wasn’t on board with.
“So you’ve got to bring in a relationships guy,” MacMahon said. “And listen, 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.
“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 Jason Kidd wants out of Dallas. 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. One of which includes the firing of Casey Smith, who J-Kidd has been extremely tight with since his second tenure as a player in Dallas, who is now running the health and performance group for the New York Knicks.”
Kidd coached Brunson when the latter played for the Mavericks earlier in his career. In Brunson’s final season in Dallas, the 2021-22 season, Kidd was patrolling the sidelines for the Mavericks.
He also has a connection to the Knicks that goes back to his playing days. Kidd wrapped up a phenomenal playing career with one season in New York, which was the 2012-13 campaign. The Knicks lost in the second round of the playoffs that year with Kidd serving as a backup guard.
Kidd makes for an intriguing candidate to be Thibodeau’s successor on the Knicks, but Kidd would have to jump ship from his position with the Mavericks to do so, and the Mavericks look primed to compete in the Western Conference next season.
They have talented veteran players such as Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson. To boot, the Mavericks have the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft, and folks are expecting them to use that selection on Duke University star Cooper Flagg.
There are some obstacles at play when it comes to Kidd possibly joining the Knicks, and even if he were to take the job, there’s a good chance he would have to deal with sky-high expectations in New York since Thibodeau got canned after helping the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals.
But even with some of the reasons for skepticism, it seems like Kidd can’t be totally ruled out as an option.
