Sources told ESPN's Tim McMahon on Friday that the Dallas Mavericks have agreed to join Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd as their head coach and longtime Nike executive Nico Harrison as their general manager and to run the franchise's basketball operations. .
Kidd, who had worked with the Mavericks twice during his playing career and starred on the 2010–11 championship team, has been supported by Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki and others, advising team owner Mark Cuban. are. Nowitzki recently returned to the franchise as a special advisor to assist Cuba in the search for a new head basketball executive and coach in the wake of the departures of Donnie Nelson and Rick Carlisle.
Sources told ESPN's Tim McMahon and Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday that Kidd had begun the initial phase of assembling the coaching staff. Sources told McMahon on Friday that longtime Mavs player J.J. Baria has had initial conversations with Kidd about joining his coaching staff. Barria, a former teammate of the Kids in Dallas, has strong ties throughout the organization, including Luka Doncic, and the Mavs recalled her appearance last season.
Harrison, who has been pursued by other teams for front-office roles, has well-established relationships with NBA players stemming from his two decades with Nike. He has a strong relationship with Doncic, having played a key role in the Mavericks star moving his endorsement deal from Nike to the (Nike-owned) Jordans brand in the fall of 2019.
The Mavericks' vice president of basketball operations, Michael Finlay, is expected to remain with the franchise and work alongside Harrison, sources told McMahon.
Carlisle, who resigned after a 13-season stint as Mavericks coach before taking the job for the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, offered Kidd unwanted support as his replacement.
"My expectation is that Jason Kidd will be the Mavs' next coach because he and Luca have a lot in common as players," Carlisle told ESPN. "I think it will be a great position for Luca, and I think it will be an amazing position for Jason. I'm the only person on the planet who has trained both of those guys and who knows all of their special qualities I know as basketball players. For me, it would be a great wedding, but that's just an opinion."
Kidd, 48, has a career regular-season record of 183–190 as head coach, and his team has gone 9–15 in three playoff appearances. Kidd coached the Brooklyn Nets in 2013–14 and the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014 to 2018 and spent the last two seasons as an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Damn I hate to lose JKidd man but damn I’m happy for him at the same time! Good luck Kidd!
A 10-time All-Star who won five assists titles, Kidd was drafted by the Mavericks in 1994 with the No. 2 pick after top pick Glenn Robinson. He was traded to the Phoenix Suns in December 1996 and returned to Dallas in February 2008 after working with the Suns and New Jersey Nets.
Kidd played five seasons for the Mavericks during his second stint in Dallas, building strong ties with Cuban and several others who remained in the Dallas front office and as support staff.
Kidd's departure from Dallas in the 2012 season was acrimonious with Cuban—Kid changed his mind after agreeing to re-sign with the Mavericks and instead joined free agency at the New York Knicks—but he Get out any hard feelings that stemmed from long ago.