Mavericks' deafening silence hints the Kidd-to-Knicks disaster is gaining steam fast

When the Dallas Mavericks lost in the Play-In Tournament to the Memphis Grizzlies in early April, there were more questions than answers heading into the franchise's first offseason without Luka Doncic since 2017.

When is Kyrie Irving going to be back next season? How will Dallas fare in the NBA Draft Lottery? Can the Mavericks even build a contender with Anthony Davis as their best player? Who is going to fill Irving's void for 50-60 games next season?

While most of the potential answers to these questions have new light behind them after Dallas secured the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft and the ability to select Cooper Flagg, the last question the Mavericks expected to have on their hands before heading into the offseason was: Will Jason Kidd be the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks next season? However, in a swift turn of events following the New York Knicks firing Tom Thibodeau, it seems there's more of a possibility than ever of Kidd leaving the Mavericks this summer to become the head coach in the No. 1 media market in the entire country.

Mavericks not closing the door on a potential Kidd exit is very telling

It should be noted Kidd seemed thrilled at the opportunity to coach Flagg and comeback to Dallas next season as little as a week ago, but NBA insider Marc Stein's most recent newsletter reported the Knicks will be formally requesting permission (subscription required) from the Mavericks to interview Kidd for their vacant head coaching position in the coming days.

In addition to this, Stein has now dropped two newsletters in a row where he's been unable to confirm Dallas' position in regards to if they'll let Kidd speak to the Knicks or not, even though a division rival in the Houston Rockets immediately dispelled rumors the Knicks would even get an opportunity to interview head coach Ime Udoka, a candidate the Knicks are also interested in.

While Kidd may not be coming off a playoff berth as Udoka is, he's easily been one of the most successful coaches in Mavericks history after leading them to the Finals in 2024 and Western Conference Finals in 2022, and he's one of the best player-relations managers in the entire association.

With that being said, it's puzzling why the Mavericks are reluctant to disclose their position on if they'll let Kidd get interviewed by the Knicks or not, as the easiest thing to do would've been to outright deny this proposition like the Rockets did considering Kidd's great fit and storied resume in Dallas. Plenty of Mavericks fans have their gripes with Kidd as an in-game coordinator, but he's improved in that area immensely since setting foot in Dallas in 2021, and the Mavericks would suffer a crushing blow in many facets if he were to up and leave for New York.

Having played as a Knick during the twilight of his career and having coached Jalen Brunson in his first season as head coach of the Mavericks, the ties Kidd has to New York's organization are obvious, but he's still under contract for another season with the Mavericks and Dallas doesn't even need to let the conversations materialize to the point of the Knicks poaching Kidd away from the Mavericks.

But there simply isn't any other logical explanation as to why the Mavericks wouldn't immediately deny New York's request other than the fact they may want to negotiate with the Knicks on a potential Kidd trade. This is something that hasn't happened in the NBA since Doc Rivers was traded to the LA Clippers for a first-round pick back in 2013, but it's not completely unfathomable a head coach could be traded again, despite how common it is, especially with the Mavericks lacking significant future first-round draft capital.

It would be all sorts of weird for Nico Harrison and company to trade Kidd to New York after the two colleagues came into Dallas as a "package deal", but Harrison has proven to do crazier things as Mavericks fans know all too well.

Nothing is definitive yet and it still seems unlikely Kidd would leave Dallas despite how appealing the Knicks' job is, but the Mavericks leaving the door open at this possibility is definitely a sign Mavericks fans could be in for a warm welcome if this situation goes haywire soon, and it would be entirely the Mavericks fault if it does considering they still have Kidd under contract next season. The Mavericks obviously need future draft capital badly entering the Flagg era, but not so much that they should be trading a head coach who's been a pillar of consistency and continuity for the organization through four seasons, especially since Dallas lacks those intangibles with a largely new roster.