The New York Knicks pulled the somewhat shocking move (depending on who you ask) to fire coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday despite leading the team to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2000. It ended a stint that included four playoff appearances in his five years at the helm, but in dismissing Thibodeau, team president Leon Rose said in a statement “our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans.”
There will be no shortage of candidates. Colleague Sam Quinn made the case for seven candidates that could be in the running, starting with recently fired Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone. But the Knicks may also have some interest in coaches who are already employed with other teams, and I’m not talking about assistants.
The Knicks may have interest in Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd and Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka, per Marc Stein. That’s some eyebrow-raising material, but let’s preface by saying that the Knicks would need permission from both teams in order to interview either of them. They’d also need to compensate either team to let them out of the existing contracts they have. The likelihood of the Knicks getting permission is incredibly low — in fact, Stein said Houston would reject New York’s request to interview Udoka immediately. That sentiment was echoed by The Athletic’s Kelly Iko, who said the Rockets have “no interest in entertaining that” and that “both parties are committed to the longterm project and are actively preparing for a busy offseason.”
It’s unclear if the Mavericks have a similar stance with Kidd, though his connection with Dallas general manager Nico Harrison remains strong ever since the two were hired at the same time in the summer of 2021. Kyrie Irving has also been vocal in his support of Kidd, as has Anthony Davis, even though hasn’t been in Dallas long.
That’s all fine and well, but Kidd also has ties to the Knicks. He played a single season in New York and coached Jalen Brunson before the All-Star guard left to join the Knicks in the summer of 2022. SNY’s Ian Begley said he “can’t see Dallas even entertaining the idea of letting Kidd go,” after he coached the team to the NBA Finals a season ago.
There are valid criticisms of Kidd’s coaching — namely, odd rotation choices and questionable game management skills — as well as his nonchalant demeanor. Kidd benefited from having a generational talent in Luka Doncic, and next season he will presumably have consensus No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg after Dallas won the draft lottery. There’s little reason to suggest the Mavericks would allow Kidd to interview for the Knicks job, and with his track record in Dallas — 179-149 record — the franchise clearly feels they have their guy for the foreseeable future in Kidd.
But he’s also missed the postseason twice in the four years, and with an uphill battle facing Dallas next season to get back there without Irving for at least the first half of the season, questions could arise whether Kidd should remain in Dallas much longer.
It’s doubtful that the Mavericks give the Knicks permission to interview Kidd, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t consider thinking about the potential of having someone else in charge — if not right now, then at least in the near future.
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