New team president Masai Ujiri announced Jason Kidd is out as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.
Ujiri hired two coaches during his time in Toronto: Nick Nurse, who won the 2019 NBA Championship, and Darko Rajakovic, who just made the playoffs for the first time in his third season with the Raptors. Both were first-time NBA head coaches, though they had experience in lower levels or internationally, and both were seen as rising stars according to NBC Sports.
The most popular candidate is former Kidd assistant coach Sean Sweeney, who is currently leading the San Antonio Spurs’ defense in their first Western Conference Finals appearance in a decade. Sweeney is considered a top assistant coach in the league. He was here during Kidd’s most successful seasons, 2021-2025.
Micah Nori is a longtime assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nori has been a part of the Timberwolves’ most successful period in team history, with two conference finals appearances in the last three years.
Sweeney and Nori are both expected to get head coaching jobs at some point, if not this summer with Dallas. They’re both considered candidates for the Chicago Bulls’ job, too.
There’s also former Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan. Donovan walked away from the Bulls last month, saying he wanted to coach meaningful games for a winning team. The Bulls won a single playoff game in his six seasons, but Donovan had success with the Oklahoma City Thunder and won two national championships at Florida before that. His success in Florida is a reason he’s also considered a frontrunner for the Orlando Magic’s head coaching vacancy.