Rumors

Rose’s first big move was one of the organization’s great triumphs. Tom Thibodeau, a no-frills head coach, was hired after a search that included Jason Kidd and Kenny Atkinson, among others. There was some haggling over who Thibodeau had to accept on his staff — and the deal nearly fell apart at the last minute — but ultimately they agreed on a five-year contract.

New York Post

Jason Kidd: Congratulations to @jalenbrunson1 and the @nyknicks

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In the wake of Dallas moving on from Jason Kidd, there have been rumblings of both Duke's Jon Scheyer and Michigan's Dusty May being linked to the vacancy. But ever since Masai Ujiri was hired to run basketball operations last month, the belief around the league is that the most likely outcome for Dallas is elevating one of the NBA's rising assistants. That's what Ujiri did the other two times he hired a coach, both with the Toronto Raptors: In 2018, he replaced Dwane Casey with Nick Nurse. In 2023, he replaced Nurse with Darko Rajakovic.

ESPN

A New Jersey native, Towns also explained why he chose the Knicks over the Nets. “My mom, when she immigrated here, she understood the magnitude of Madison Square Garden,” Towns said. “… I grew up, obviously, in Jersey, obviously it was so much easier for me to get New Jersey Nets tickets and see Kenyon Martin, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, but my family has always had such respect and love for the Knicks and my father having ties to the Knicks, it was kind of guaranteed I was going to fall into this world of being a Knicks fan growing up.”

New York Post

Marc Stein: "Mike Brown at best was the sixth choice for this job. Remember that the Knicks asked for permission to speak to Jason Kidd, Ime Udoka, Quinn Snyder, Chris Finch, and Billy Donovan. All of those teams said no. Jason Kidd and Billy Donovan both got contract extensions and no longer coach the teams where they were a year ago. It really looked like the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau without a plan to replace the first coach who had taken them to the conference finals this century. For things to turn around to this degree, the teamwork, the way that team has come together, the way Karl-Anthony Towns has embraced a new role, the way Mikal Bridges, who has been so maligned for how many draft picks he cost the Knicks, and the level that he has been playing in these playoffs."

YouTube

Charlie Villanueva on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: I wouldn't even put him in the top 10.  Q. Give me 10 point guards, combo point guards, it doesn’t matter. Villanueva: Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Stephen Curry, Allen Iverson, John Stockton… I wouldn't put him up past John Stockton, fam. Q. But that's only five you've named so far. Villanueva: Okay, let me get there! Steve Nash, Chris Paul… Okay. I'm cool. I'm cool with all these… Oh, also Tony Parker. (…) He’s not in front of Jason Kidd. (…) Bob Cousy. Pistol Pete.

YouTube

It’s worth noting that former Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has quietly been connected to Portland within league circles. Yet, will that chatter lead to anything more substantive now or in the future?  Now, Portland’s current price range for a head coach is well below Kidd’s remaining contract with the Mavericks, which is for four years and $40 million, according to ESPN. Kidd also expressed a desire to make front office personnel decisions before Dallas hired Masai Ujiri and Portland general manager Joe Cronin signed a multi-year contract extension in April of 2025.  Thus, while the stars may not align on paper for a pairing with Kidd at this juncture, there’s been enough scuttlebutt leaguewide worth keeping tabs on looking ahead. 

HoopsHype

Jason Kidd: Thank you, Dallas.

Twitter

Draymond Green: "Jason Kidd from Oakland. Damian Lillard also from Oakland. Point guard. You look at Scoot Henderson, a young guard. How can Jason Kidd help him? So when you take a step back and you look at those jobs, I definitely can see Jason Kidd taking the Trail Blazers job. Now, however, it's been widely known that the owner of their team doesn't want to pay the head coach. It's been widely publicized. A lot of people have been talking about it. And quite honestly, you're making $10 million to do nothing and this coach trying to pay a million or two million dollars. I think that will run Jason Kidd the opposite way. But when I look at the Trail Blazers roster, that looks like the team that Jason Kidd will feel most confident on this list and going into next year saying, 'We got a chance to compete.' The Orlando Magic also is a team that's going into next year you're saying can compete. The Bulls not so much. So I wouldn't expect him to even interview for the Bulls job. But if he wants any of these jobs, he'll definitely be right at the top of the list because his five-year tenure with the Mavericks were extremely successful."

YouTube

Michael Carter-Willi: I’ve been trying to tell people this for 10 years now… truth always prevails.

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Pat McAffee: "Masai Ujiri has full authority to do whatever he wants with the direction of this Mavericks team.. Mavs sources believe that Jason Kidd had a level of support for the Luka Doncic trade.. This is a complete restart for the entire organization" ~ @ShamsCharania

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Abby Jones: Masai Ujiri says that “nobody has received a phone call from him” in search of a new Head Coach, he felt it was disrespectful to Jason Kidd to speak with other candidates at this time.

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Abby Jones: Masai Ujiri speaks on the future of Kyrie Irving in Dallas after the departure of HC, Jason Kidd. “Kevin Durant once told me that there's only one Kyrie Irving walking around in the world. I think we have to figure out a way, how Kyrie fits with our program. I've had those conversations with Kyrie, up till yesterday and I think Kyrie will fit. There's a huge curiosity in our minds to see how Kyrie fits playing with Cooper Flagg … and I think we owe that to this organization.”

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Clutch Points: "That trade has played no part in like how I have thought about anything. ... I'm in no position to criticize or blame." Masai Ujiri on whether the Luka Doncic trade played a part in the Mavs moving on from Jason Kidd.

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