The Dallas Mavericks are one of five NBA teams still looking for a head coach. As their old coach signs onto a new job in the Eastern Conference, Marc Stein of the New York Times reports that Jason Kidd is a “prime candidate” for the job.
The Mavericks remain focused for now on their front-office search, but Jason Kidd will be a prime candidate in their coaching search, league sources say.
Rick Carlisle just took the Indiana job and told @espn_macmahon his "hope is that Jason Kidd will be next coach of the Mavs."
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 24, 2021
Kidd has been a head coach twice before, once with the Bucks and once with the Nets. He was an assistant with the Lakers this past season and was linked to the still open Trail Blazers job before taking himself out of the running after Blazers star Damian Lillard publicly vouched for him. Kidd also played for the Mavericks on two occasions — the franchise drafted him second overall in 1994 — and was a key part of the 2011 team that won a championship.
Interestingly, ex-Mavs coach and newly hired Pacers coach Rick Carlisle (who coached Kidd in 2011) publicly vouched for Kidd to get the job. In Carlisle’s eyes, there are similarities between Kidd during his playing days and Mavericks franchise centerpiece Luka Doncic that would make the former the perfect coach for the latter.
Rick Carlisle on his Mavs: "It's hard to put an exact finger on it. It’s just a feeling that I had that it would be mutually beneficial. My hope is that Jason Kidd will be the next coach of the Mavs because he and Luka have so many things in common as players."
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) June 24, 2021
Carlisle (cont.): "I just think that it would be a great situation for Luka, and I think it would be an amazing situation for Jason. I’m the only person on the planet that’s coached both of those guys and that knows about all of their special qualities as basketball players."
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) June 24, 2021
Carlisle: "To me, that just would be a great marriage, but that’s just an opinion."
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) June 24, 2021
Kidd would be an interesting choice for Dallas in that he’s a former player and, in theory, could relate to Doncic as someone who makes plays at the highest level, although it must be said that he was fired by the Bucks during his last coaching gig. Kidd has also been linked to the open Magic job during this hiring cycle.
