Only 72 hours after their season ended, the New York Knicks are predictably dominating the headlines.

Following the team’s first Eastern Conference Finals berth in 25 years, head coach Tom Thibodeau was relieved of his duties and sent packing. There will be plenty of time to discuss Thibodeau and his lasting impact on the franchise later. For now, all eyes are on his replacement.

Or, who his replacement could be, rather, as the process has barely even begun.

Don’t rule out Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd when thumbing through the file cabinet of potential candidates. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon was first to point that out on a June 5 episode of the “Hoop Collective Podcast.”

“Listen, you’ve got to bring in a relationships guy,” MacMahon told cohosts Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps. “And one of the names that has been thrown out there is a man who’s under contract with another team, but definitely a guy who has a relationship not just with Jalen Brunson, but with a lot of people in that organization. That’s Jason Kidd. And I will say that I would not dismiss that possibility.”

Kidd spent the final year of his undoubtedly Hall of Fame career in New York and, of course, coached Brunson on the Mavericks from 2020 to 2021.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I know, or even think, that J Kidd wants out of Dallas,” MacMahon continued. “That would be going way too far. What I can comfortably say is there certainly have been decisions, major franchise decisions that have been made that he was on not on board with—one of which includes the firing of Casey Smith, who J Kidd has been extremely tight with since his second tenure as a player in Dallas, who is now running the health and performance group for the New York Knicks.”

Kidd signed an undefined, multi-year extension with Dallas in May of 2024. So for him to be available for New York would take some legwork on his part.

But it’s not unlikely to think that Kidd, two years removed from an NBA Finals berth with the Mavericks, could be interested in leaving town after four seasons.

Dallas, after trading Luka Doncic, has the first overall pick in this year’s draft. Kyrie Irving will miss a majority of the 2025-2026 season with a torn ACL, if not all of it.

That leaves the 18-year-old Cooper Flagg—the consensus number one prospect—and the 32-year-old, injury-prone Anthony Davis as their core. Not great.

Some coaches embrace opportunities to coach top prospects like Flagg. Whether Kidd is that kind of coach has yet to be seen.

If not, it could be a matter of wading in Texas waters and waiting for the right opportunity. Would he consider coaching the Knicks the “right” opportunity?

Keep an eye on Dallas and Kidd as New York’s head coaching search unfolds. Leon Rose and the front office are going to perform due diligence on every potential candidate around the league, including coaches who are under contract.