One insider isn’t ruling out Jason Kidd becoming the Knicks’ next coach.
Kidd is currently in charge of the Mavericks, meaning the Knicks would first need permission from Dallas just to interview and then negotiate compensation to allow the Mavericks to let him leave.
But ESPN’s Tim MacMahon pointed to Kidd’s connections with the Knicks, who fired Tom Thibodeau Tuesday after five years with the team, as a reason to monitor the situation.
“You’ve got to bring in a relationships guy,” MacMahon said on the outlet’s “Hoop Collective” podcast.
“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.”
Brunson played under Kidd in his final season with the Mavericks before he left in free agency for the Knicks.
Kidd has coached the Mavericks the past four years and led them to the NBA Finals last season before losing to the Celtics in five games.
He signed a multi-year contract extension last year.
This season was far more turbulent, particularly after the team’s blockbuster decision in February to trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
Injuries to Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, the latter of whom was acquired as part of the Doncic trade, also derailed the team’s plans.
The Mavericks also previously moved parted ways with Casey Smith, who now serve as the Knicks’ vice president of sports medicine and helped the roster stay healthy leading into and during the postseason.
“I’m not gonna sit here and tell you that I know or even think that J-Kidd wants out of Dallas, that would be going way too far,” MacMahon said. “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.
“I think it would be way too far to hint, suggest or any of that that J-Kidd is looking to get out of Dallas. I think that would be not an accurate or fair thing to say. But if this opportunity were to present itself, I bet you his ears would perk up.”
Kidd previously coached the Nets and Bucks and served as an assistant with the Lakers before his Mavericks tenure.