Though there has been a little speculation this offseason, especially with the New York Knicks coaching job still open, Jason Kidd isn’t going anywhere.
Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison confirmed on Wednesday night, after the franchise selected Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, that Kidd would be the team’s head coach next season.
Kidd just wrapped up his fourth season as the Mavericks’ head coach. He had been linked to the Knicks job briefly after they fired Tom Thibodeau, but the Mavericks denied the Knicks’ request to interview Kidd for the position.
Despite the outside rumors, the Mavericks had always expected Kidd would remain with the franchise for the foreseeable future. He is reportedly expected to parlay the Knicks’ interest in him into a new contract extension with the Mavericks, though specifics on that deal aren’t known.
Kidd has compiled a 179-149 record with the Mavericks. He led them to the NBA Finals in 2024 when the team still had star Luka Dončić on the roster.
Now, with Kidd apparently locked down, the franchise can turn its attention to kicking off the Flagg era. The consensus National Player of the Year averaged 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds at Duke last season while leading them to the Final Four.
Flagg will have his introductory press conference with Kidd and Harrison on Friday.
“I’m going to try my best,” Flagg said. “I know there’s probably going to be some high expectations, but I’m going to try to impact the game as much as I can. Do whatever I can, whatever I need to do, whatever role I’m given. I’m going to try to do that to the best of my ability.”
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