Windhorst Says Knicks 'Absolutely' Want to Hire Jason Kidd as HC amid NBA Rumors
On the heels of firing Tom Thibodeau as their head coach, the New York Knicks appear to have their sights primarily set on Jason Kidd as his replacement if they can receive permission from the Dallas Mavericks to speak with him.
On Tuesday's episode of Get Up, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said the Knicks "absolutely" want to hire Kidd as their next head coach.
As Windhorst points out, the Mavericks can shut this down quickly if they choose not to grant the Knicks permission. If Kidd doesn't want to leave Dallas but wants to use New York's interest as leverage for a new deal, he could try to pressure the organization.
Kidd was expected to receive interest from the Los Angeles Lakers after they fired Darvin Ham following the 2023-24 season, only to secure a multiyear contract extension from the Mavs.
While we don't yet know exactly what Kidd wants to do, there are positives and negatives for him staying in Dallas. The biggest and most obvious positive is Cooper Flagg will almost certainly be on the team when the team makes the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.
The negative is figuring out how much trust Kidd has in Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison going forward. He has made it clear in his public comments that he had no input in the decision to trade Luka Dončić.
Per Tim Cato of DLLS Sports, Kidd "resented" the Mavs front office and Harrison for the Dončić trade. He also reportedly didn't like being the team's public spokesman in the aftermath of the deal.
If Kidd has doubts that Harrison might decide to blow up the roster by trading away the best player at any given moment without soliciting his input, going to a new franchise might be more appealing to him.
The Knicks are a ready-made title contender in the Eastern Conference. They just played in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.
Even though there has been speculation that the Knicks could try to make a big move this summer by shopping Karl-Anthony Towns, they would be doing it in the interest of improving their title chances for next season.
There could also be some appeal for Kidd coaching in the East, where the depth of competition isn't nearly as intense as the Western Conference is shaping up to be.
Aside from the Indiana Pacers, there aren't a lot of East teams that will be obviously better than the Knicks in 2025-26.
The Boston Celtics could undergo some drastic changes this offseason in the wake of Jayson Tatum's torn Achilles. The Cleveland Cavaliers could consider offers for anyone on the roster aside from Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Those were the only two teams in the conference that had a better record than the Knicks this season.
Kidd just finished his fourth season as head coach in Dallas. The 52-year-old has a 362-339 career record in nine seasons as a head coach with the Mavs, Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets. He also won an NBA title as an assistant coach with the Lakers during the 2019-20 season.
