Mavericks Reportedly Open To Letting Jason Kidd Walk Under One Condition

Would this be a good idea by the Mavs?

Mar 21, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd looks on during the second quarter against the LA Clippers at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks have an extremely important offseason ahead. They were in the NBA Finals two years ago but have now missed the playoffs in both of the years since. That's unacceptable. Everybody in the organization knows that.

They fired Nico Harrison in November after a rough start to the season, amidst a wild amount of fan pressure. It's not often you'll see a home team at the free-throw line with a chance to win the game, and its fans are yelling to fire the GM. That's a special amount of vitriol.

One thing that is expected to stay the same is the head coach. Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont believes Jason Kidd is the perfect coach to help develop Cooper Flagg, who could be in line to win Rookie of the Year after a historic first season. And while all signs point to Kidd coming back, it's not impossible that they could move on, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon on the "Howdy Partners" podcast.

"I believe J-Kidd will be coaching the Mavericks next season unless there's another deal like last year, where a franchise, the New York Knicks, in last year's case, if a franchise comes knocking and wants to hire J-Kidd for the second straight summer... if that happens again, I get the feeling that they would say, 'Hey, if you want to go, you can go.' I don't think... that Jason Kidd is in jeopardy of being fired."

The reason the Mavs may be open to that is that they could receive some financial compensation in return for letting Kidd walk. They just signed him to a contract extension last offseason, and the incoming GM may want to make his own hire if he and Kidd don't see eye-to-eye. Their future draft capital is mostly depleted, so anything they can do to restock that cabinet is something they need to look into. We have seen coaches traded in the past.

Apr 5, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd reacts during the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

NBA History of Coaches Being Traded, Including Jason Kidd

It doesn't happen often, but we have seen coaches be traded before, including Jason Kidd. One famous example is when the Boston Celtics traded Doc Rivers, who didn't want to coach a rebuilding team, to the LA Clippers for a first-round pick. He won a championship with the Celtics in 2008, but the irony is that the Celtics won a championship again in 2022, and Rivers never won another.

Kidd was also traded as a coach. He spent one year as the head coach for the Brooklyn Nets before he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for two second-round picks. He apparently wanted more front office control, which is something we could see with the Mavs.

Pat Riley was also traded from the New York Knicks to the Miami Heat in 1995 for a first-round pick. Some other examples include Stav Van Gundy and Mike Dunleavy Sr.