According to NBA reporter Sam Amick of The Athletic, Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd is hopeful he can sign an extension this summer.
Kidd is signed through next season.
The Mavericks are 43-29 on the season. They are in sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
“Everybody’s playing for one another — on both ends,” Kidd said. “And sometimes in the season, as much as coaches would like our defense to be perfect in training camp, it sometimes takes a little time. But there’s no better time to play defense than in March when you’re playing for something. And then again, our offense, we believe, is one of the best in the league with our two leaders, with Luka and Ky. So we lean on those two guys to be the quarterbacks, and they trust their teammates when they let go of the ball.”
The Mavericks are sixth in the NBA in points per game, 20th in points per game allowed and 11th in net rating. If the regular season ended today, Dallas would face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.
Kidd has been with the Mavericks since 2021. He’s 133-103 in the regular season and 9-9 in the playoffs. Dallas reached the Western Conference Finals in 2022, losing to the Golden State Warriors in five games.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, “genuine fondness” exists between Mavericks stars Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. Dallas acquired Irving from the Brooklyn Nets last season.
“Multiple team sources indicate that there is a genuine fondness between the stars,” Stein wrote. “One recent example shared with The Stein Line: At a 25th birthday party for Dončić in Toronto last month, Irving was the last Maverick to close down the soirée with Luka at night’s end. One more example: Earlier this week, when the Mavericks held an optional practice for low-minute players to get in some extra work on the morning after another road win in San Antonio, both Irving and Dončić unexpectedly attended the session and played in the pickup games. They clearly enjoy each other’s company.”
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