“Jason has had a meaningful impact on the Dallas Mavericks, both as a Hall of Fame player and as the head coach who helped lead this franchise back to the NBA Finals,” team president Masai Ujiri said in a prepared statement. “We are thankful for Jason’s leadership, his professionalism and his commitment to the team. In my short time here, I’ve developed an enormous amount of respect for what he has built. He will always be an important part of the Mavericks family.”
Now, the team will have a new leader to foster Cooper Flagg’s development and usher in a new era under Ujiri and new general manager Mike Schmitz. Dallas won just 26 games this season and finished 12th in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
Here are a look at some candidates who could be on the list to replace Kidd:
Donovan stepped down as coach of the Chicago Bulls last month after six seasons and appears to be drawing interest from the Orlando Magic. Donovan has an “excellent shot” of landing the job, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer. Donovan has Florida ties, serving as coach of the University of Florida for 19 years. Could the Mavericks’ opening and the possibility of coaching Flagg entice the veteran coach to look to Texas?
Dudley left Dallas last summer to become the top assistant for the Denver Nuggets. He’s interviewed for several head coaching jobs over the last two offseasons, including this year’s opening in Portland, according to reports. Dudley has institutional knowledge from having coached in Dallas, but it’s unlikely the Mavericks would bring in a coach who served as an assistant under Kidd.
Nori was an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors for four seasons until 2013, the same year Ujiri joined the franchise. Since then, he’s been an assistant with Sacramento, Denver, Detroit and Minnesota, where he’s played a pivotal role in the Timberwolves’ success. Nori is reportedly a candidate for the Bulls’ opening.
Sweeney has been getting closer and closer to his first opportunity as a head coach. Like Dudley, he’s interviewed for several lead coaching jobs over the past two years, but he’s also a former Mavericks assistant and a Kidd protégé. Sweeney left the Mavericks to become the associate head coach under in San Antonio, which has a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals over the Thunder. He has played a pivotal role in the development of Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs’ return to championship contender status. But any conversation with Sweeney would likely have to wait until their season ends.
The Knicks fired Thibodeau after coming up short in the East finals last season. He spent this season without an NBA job, and the possibility of coaching two promising young talents in Flagg and the Mavericks’ incoming lottery pick could interest him.
Another Kidd assistant was one of two former head coaches on his staff, along with Jay Triano. Vogel most recently coached the Phoenix Suns in the 2023-24 season and led the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship in 2020, with Kidd as one of his assistants.