Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd leaves the court after being ejected during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic at American Airlines Center on Friday, April 3, 2026, in Dallas.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
Masai Ujiri had a busy offseason between the draft and free agency.
On Tuesday, he added a coaching search to the to-do list.
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His noncommittal remarks about Kidd’s future painted a hazy future for the Hall of Famer, who won Rookie of the Year with the Mavericks in 1995 and helped them win the 2011 NBA championship as a player. Kidd led the team to the Western Conference finals in 2022, his first season as head coach, and the NBA Finals in 2024, but he couldn’t duplicate that success.
“He’s done a great job,” Ujiri said during his introductory news conference. “We are going to look at this thing from head to toe. That’s the right way to look at an organization and evaluate in every single way that we can. I talked to him and I’m going to hear his thoughts on where he sees this.”
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Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont has entrusted Ujiri with full autonomy of basketball decisions, given his extensive experience and previous success, which was one of the primary goals of the hire. Kidd gained a significant amount of influence with Dumont following the firing of general manager Nico Harrison on Nov. 11. Multiple people familiar with Kidd’s thinking said the former Mavericks coach had a strong desire for the president of basketball operations job but was informed “early in the process” that he would not be considered for the role.
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Instead, Dumont reached out to Ujiri as early as December, when the two met for the first time during a five-hour lunch in Miami.
The Mavericks endured their third losing season under Kidd this past year, finishing 26-56. He went 205-205 overall with a winning record in two of his five seasons. In three-plus seasons as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and a brief stint with the Brooklyn Nets, Kidd compiled a 388-395 career record and went to the playoffs in five of his 10 seasons as a head coach.
Kidd had four years left on his deal with the Mavericks, a person familiar with his contract told The Dallas Morning News, which amounts to about $40 million, according to ESPN.
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Related: Full timeline of Jason Kidd’s Mavs tenure: Wild trades, up-and-down results and more
His tenure lasted six months longer than Harrison, who was hired with the head coach in June 2021, when Mark Cuban was still the Mavericks’ owner. The team has undergone a near-complete turnover since Cuban sold his majority stake to the Adelson and Dumont families, parting ways with superstar Luka Doncic, Harrison and now Kidd. Matt Riccardi, who served as the Mavericks’ co-interim general manager, is also leaving the organization after four seasons with his hometown team, a person familiar with the move told The News. The decision was mutual, the person said, as it was with Kidd.
“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,” Ujiri said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “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.”
Kidd and Ujiri’s paths crossed 12 years ago, when Kidd’s Nets faced Ujiri’s Toronto Raptors in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. The former Raptors president infamously shouted, “F— Brooklyn,” at a fan rally before Game 1. Kidd was asked after the game about Ujiri’s comment and said he could “care less” about what the former Raptors GM said.
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“You gotta tell me who the GM is,” Kidd said. “I don’t even know who that is. I could care less what they think about Brooklyn. We have a job to do, and that’s to play the game of basketball.”
Future for Kidd, Mavericks
The Mavericks will immediately begin a comprehensive search for the 11th head coach in franchise history. The search will mark the sixth coaching change in the NBA since the regular season ended. The Magic, along with the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers, are also in need of head coaches. Milwaukee hired Taylor Jenkins to replace Doc Rivers, and the New Orleans Pelicans recently hired former Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley, who was fired by Orlando after its first-round playoff exit.
Ujiri will hold a media availability Wednesday morning to address his second major decision since taking the helm of the Mavericks. Four days after he was hired, Ujiri named Mike Schmitz the team’s new general manager.
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“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. “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.”
Kidd, a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, is suddenly on the market one year after the New York Knicks aggressively pursued him for their head coach opening last summer. The Mavericks denied New York’s request, and Kidd was rewarded with a contract extension.
But the Mavericks missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season as Kidd tried to steer the team through injuries, the midseason trade of Anthony Davis and inconsistent lineups. Despite the chaos, the Mavericks were competitive on most nights, finishing tied for the highest amount of clutch games in the NBA with 45. That was largely thanks to a sensational rookie season from Cooper Flagg, who credited his head coach for helping his development, which included spending time at point guard, Kidd’s position.
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His staff, which included a pair of former head coaches in Frank Vogel and Jay Triano, along with assistants Popeye Jones, Phil Handy and Mike Penberthy, will likely be on the market as well.