Two active NBA head coaches have been linked to the New York Knicks after Tuesday’s shocking Tom Thibodeau firing.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd and Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka are “said to interest the Knicks.”
Kidd and Udoka previously interviewed for the Knicks job. But the Knicks ultimately hired Thibodeau ahead of the 2020-21 season. The Knicks would need to seek permission from their respective teams to talk to both coaches if they are to pursue them.
“One source with knowledge of the Rockets’ thinking told The Stein Line categorically that permission to speak with Udoka would be rejected if the Knicks requested it,” Stein wrote.
The Mavericks are also expected to do the same. However, Stein noted that it hasn’t been confirmed as of Tuesday night.
“Kidd has two seasons left on a contract extension he received during last season’s playoffs with the Mavericks in the midst of a run to the NBA Finals and with the Los Angeles Lakers expected to show interest in hiring him to replace Darvin Ham,” Stein wrote.
If the Knicks are granted permission and successfully lure either Udoka or Kidd, they would have to pay compensation in the form of draft capital to complete the hiring.
Knicks Ties
Getty Head coach Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets talks with Jalen Green against the Golden State Warriors.
Udoka played for eight games with the Knicks during the 2005-06 season, averaging 2.8 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 14.3 minutes. It was during his brief Knicks stint that coaching in the NBA was planted on his mind by then Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas.
It would have been a full-circle moment for him had the Knicks hired him, instead of Thibodeau, in 2020. But Udoka was an unproven coach at that time.
Udoka went on to coach the Boston Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals and guide a young Rockets team to the No. 2 seed and pushed the Golden State Warriors to seven games in the first-round of the playoffs this season.
On the other hand, Kidd spent his final playing year in the NBA with the Knicks. He was a member of the 54-win Knicks team during the 2012-13 season, a feat that has never been done until Thibodeau arrived. Thibodeau guided the Knicks to back-to-back 50-win season before he was fired.
Like Thibodeau, Kidd’s stint with the Knicks was marred by a playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. Kidd retired after the season and quickly embarked on an NBA coaching career with stops in Brooklyn, Milwaukee and an assistant coaching gig with the 2020 NBA champion Lakers before taking over as the Mavericks’ head coach when current Pacers coach Rick Carlisle left Dallas in 2021.
Jason Kidd’s Strong Ties With Jalen Brunson
Getty Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd talks with then-Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson during the Western Conference Playoffs in 2021.
Kidd has steered the Mavericks — during Jalen Brunson‘s breakout year — to the Western Conference Finals in the 2021-22 season. Brunson left Dallas after the season and joined the Knicks.
Kidd was happy when Brunson bagged a four-year, $104 million deal with the Knicks in free agency.
“The biggest thing is I’m happy he got paid,’’ Kidd said on the “All the Smoke’’ podcast in 2022. “He helped us. I know [Mavericks owner Mark] Cuban doesn’t like this, but I love when I can get a player get paid.’’
It was Kidd who first trusted Brunson with the ball and the guard blossomed into Mavericks’ second-best player next to Luka Doncic that season.
“I tell a player on the first day of camp, ‘Tell me what you want,’ ” Kidd said. “Everyone wants shots. Everyone wants minutes. But that’s not the truth. They want to get paid and want to play.
“Cool. I can help you do that. The other part of that is I’m going to ask for a couple of things. Trust, communicate and play hard. If you ask Brunson, he will tell you he listened [to me] and good things happened. I just want to put people in a position to be successful.’’
Aside from Kidd’s previous working relationship with Brunson, Stein noted that the 52-year-old coach “remains close to Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is oft-described as a potential Knicks trade target should Antetokounmpo ever decide to push for a move.”
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