New NBA Rumors on Jason Kidd's Desire to Be Mavs' President Before Masai Ujiri Hire

The Dallas Mavericks hired Masai Ujiri to be the team president this week. But another prominent figure in the organization reportedly had been interested in that same gig.

"[Head coach] Jason Kidd was not involved in the process of getting Ujiri to the Mavericks. Kidd was not in the loop on that process," ESPN's Tim MacMahon said during an appearance on Wednesday's Hoop Collective podcast (1:06:25 mark). "He was informed when it was a done deal, much like Mark Cuban was. It doesn't mean that Kidd's not going to be the Mavericks coach now or moving forward. ... Kidd did try to become the president. He's known for months that wasn't going to happen. They're bringing in somebody who he was not involved in bringing into the organization to be the president. And very clearly, Ujiri is the boss. Period. There is no question about the power structure. Ujiri is the boss of all things basketball for the Mavericks."

The Mavs have been an organization in a state of disarray after the shocking decision to trade Luka Dončić in Feb. 2025.

That decision angered fans to the point that general manager Nico Harrison was fired in November, and three months later Anthony Davis—the main piece that came back in the Dončić deal—was traded to the Washington Wizards alongside Jaden Hardy, D'Angelo Russell and Dante Exum for Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, two first-rounders and three second-round selections.

"Listen, I hope to bring calm," Ujiri told reporters on Tuesday.

But in between all of that, good fortune smiled on the Mavericks, as they won last year's draft lottery and selected Cooper Flagg with the top overall pick, giving them a young franchise cornerstone to build around.

"In Africa, we say when kings go, kings come. And a king went and we have a little prince here. Now we're going to turn him into a king," Ujiri said of the transition from Dončić as the face of the franchise to Flagg. "I think we have to start thinking that way. Understand what we've gone through. But I hope we can figure out how we reset as an organization with the fans. There's no other way to do this than winning."

The question is where Kidd fits into the mix. The 53-year-old has spent the last five seasons as the team's head coach, leading Dallas to a 205-205 record with two playoff appearances, two berths in the Western Conference Finals and one trip to the NBA Finals. But the last two seasons have been rough, particularly a 2025-26 campaign that saw the team go just 26-56 (albeit with Kyrie Irving missing the majority of the season and Davis playing just nine games for the team before being traded).

Ujiri was fairly noncommittal on Kidd's future in Dallas during his introductory press conference.

"There's no way to read this," he told reporters. "I'm going to hear Kidd out, his thoughts on everything and follow a lot on what he's saying. Because some of this stuff here, I don't know. If you go back to the history, it's the same thing. I have to follow a process here, and I'm excited to meet with them."