The Dallas Mavericks have mutually agreed to part ways with head coach Jason Kidd, the team announced Tuesday evening.
Kidd has four years and more than $40 million remaining on his contract, sources told ESPN. But Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont, who extended Kidd’s contract during Dallas’ Finals run and again before last season after the Mavs’ declined the New York Knicks request to interview him, gave new president Masai Ujiri full authorization to determine the head coach’s future with the franchise.
“As we evaluate the future of our basketball program, we believe this is the right moment for a new direction for our team,” Ujiri said in a statement. “We have high expectations for this franchise and a responsibility to build a basketball organization capable of sustained championship contention.
“We will conduct a thorough, disciplined search for our next head coach and continue to evaluate our entire basketball operations staff to ensure we compete at the standard Mavs fans expect and deserve.”
Sources said that Kidd had expressed a desire to be promoted to president of basketball operations after general manager Nico Harrison was fired in November, but Dumont informed Kidd months ago that he wouldn’t be considered for the front office.
Kidd was kept out of the loop in the process that resulted in Ujiri’s hiring, sources said.
During his May 5 introductory news conference in Dallas, Ujiri was noncommittal when asked whether could would continue as the Mavs’ coach, although Ujiri noted that he kept George Karl in Denver and Dwane Casey in Toronto when he began his previous two stints as a franchise’s lead basketball executive.
“He’s done a great job, but we are going to look at this thing from head to toe” Ujiri said. “That’s the right way to look at an organization and evaluate in every single way we can.”
Kidd had a 205-205 record during his five-year tenure at the helm of the Mavs. Dallas went 22-18 in the playoffs under Kidd, advancing to the 2022 Western Conference finals and the 2024 NBA Finals.
The Mavs made a shocking pivot months after their Finals run, trading face of the franchise Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package headlined by Anthony Davis in February 2025. It was a disastrous deal that led to Harrison’s firing eight months later.
Kidd has insisted that he wasn’t aware of the deal until “the 11th hour,” doubling down on that explanation in early April after minority owner Mark Cuban appeared on a podcast and accused Kidd of being directly involved in the decision to trade Doncic. Kidd’s frustration with Doncic’s frequent conditioning issues was well known throughout the organization.
But Doncic drove winning in Dallas. Under Kidd, the Mavs had a 136-87 record with Doncic in the lineup and went 69-118 without him. That included a 26-56 record last season, when the oft-injured Davis was traded to the Washington Wizards at the deadline in a deal motivated by creating financial flexibility for a rebuild around Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year.
Kidd, a Hall of Fame point guard, was drafted by the Mavs in 1994 and played a critical role in the franchise’s lone championship in 2011 during his second stint with the team.
Kidd has a 388-395 record as a head coach, beginning his coaching career with the Brooklyn Nets in 2013 immediately after his retirement as a player and coaching the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014-18.
