Report: Knicks Will Pursue Mavericks Coach Jason Kidd ‘Until That Door Is Firmly Shut’

According to NBA insider Kris Pursiainen of ClutchPoints, the New York Knicks will pursue Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd “until that door is firmly shut.”

The Knicks were denied permission to speak with Kidd, who has two years left on his contract. 

“Sources tell ClutchPoints the Knicks will pursue Kidd until that door is firmly shut,” Pursianien wrote. “If Kidd and the Mavericks make a final decision to continue their partnership, the Knicks will need to move on. They won’t have to conduct much of a ‘pivot,’ though. They will need to break down and continue to supplement the information they’ve gathered on other top candidates.”

Kidd has a coaching record of 362-339 in the regular season and 31-33 in the playoffs with the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Mavericks. He played for the Knicks for one season in 2012-13 and was a superstar with the New Jersey Nets for multiple years. 

If Kidd doesn’t get an extension from the Mavericks, he theoretically could leave for the Knicks, who would have to trade draft picks to Dallas to acquire the NBA legend. 

The Mavericks have the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. They are expected to draft Duke’s Cooper Flagg. 

“I do not think he is looking to leave Dallas,” Marc Stein of The Stein Line said on the DLLS Mavs podcast. “He is very settled here. His family is very settled here. And he is very close with the two superstars (Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving) who are in place.”

New York needs a new head coach after firing Tom Thibodeau. The franchise has been denied permission to speak with Kidd, Atlanta Hawks coach Quin Snyder, Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan. 

Udoka and Donovan recently signed extensions. 

The Knicks fired Thibodeau despite reaching the conference finals this year for the first time since 2000. The Indiana Pacers beat New York in six games. 

Thibodeau, who has coached the Bulls and Timberwolves, was hired by the Knicks in 2020. He went 226-174 in the regular season and 24-23 in the postseason and won the 2021 Coach of the Year Award.