| Advertisement |
June 25 (UPI) -- Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd is set to become the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. League sources told ESPN, The Athletic and the Dallas Morning News on Friday that Kidd agreed to terms with the Mavericks to be their new head coach. According to the outlets, longtime Nike executive Nico Harrison will become Dallas' next general manager and run the franchise's basketball operations.
Advertisement
"I'm excited!!! Both are incredible and have the experience, knowledge, passion and love for the game to lead us into a very bright future," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told the Dallas Morning News.
Kidd, who had two stints with the Mavs during his playing career and helped guide the organization to a championship in the 2010-11 season, has had the support of Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki and other individuals who have been providing advice to Cuban during the franchise's search process.
Nowitzki recently returned to the Mavericks as a special adviser to assist Cuban in the hunt for a new head coach and general manager in the wake of the departures of Rick Carlisle and Donnie Nelson earlier this month.
Carlisle, who stepped down after a 13-season tenure as the Mavericks' coach before taking the Indiana Pacers job Thursday, offered a strong endorsement of Kidd as his replacement.
"My hope is that Jason Kidd will be the next coach of the Mavs because he and Luka [Doncic] have so many things in common as players," Carlisle previously told ESPN. "I just think that it would be a great situation for Luka, and I think it would be an amazing situation for Jason.
"I'm the only person on the planet that's coached both of those guys and that knows about all of their special qualities as basketball players. To me, that just would be a great marriage, but that's just an opinion."
The 48-year-old Kidd, who coached the Brooklyn Nets in 2013-14 and the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014-18, has a 183-190 record in the regular season as a head coach. His teams have posted a combined 9-15 mark in three playoff appearances.
Kidd spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Harrison, who has been targeted by other NBA teams for front-office roles, has strong connections with many players around the league stemming from his time with Nike. He has a solid friendship with Doncic, having played a key role in the two-time All-Star selection shifting his endorsement deal from Nike to the Jordan Brand in 2019.
