The New York Knicks, following their disappointing loss in the Eastern Conference Finals, have fired Head Coach Tom Thibodeau. Rumor has it they’re now eyeing the man orchestrating Dallas’ basketball—Jason Kidd. The Mavericks’ coach is reportedly the front-runner for the job, but bringing him to the Big Apple would be a complicated process involving extensive team negotiations.
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Fortunately, Dan Patrick is on the case. The famed analyst discussed the possibility of J-Kidd heading to New York on the latest edition of his show on NBC Sports.
“If I’m Jason Kidd, do I want to leave Dallas?” asked Patrick rhetorically. “Do I want to leave the opportunity to coach Cooper Flagg? You win the lottery, you stumble into this, do you want to go to the Knicks?”
These are good points to bring up. Kidd may have been given the chance to pull the Mavs out of the weeds after last season’s messy Luka Doncic trade. Perhaps with Cooper Flagg, and a healthy Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, he could steer the franchise back to its winning ways.
But Patrick also predicted that if the Knicks are pursuing Kidd, it’s because they’re aiming to reunite the 10-time All-Star with one of the league’s top superstars. Giannis Antetokounmpo, perhaps.
“Unless Jason Kidd and Giannis get reunited. That’s the only thing I see where I go okay, we are gonna get Jason Kidd, and that means Giannis is gonna wanna play for Jason Kidd,” he suggested.
“I’m not bringing in Jason Kidd and going, ‘Okay let’s see if you can take them further than Tom Thibodeau,'” he added.
So, if this were to happen, New York would need to offer something Dallas actually wants. But here’s the thing—if the Knicks are also looking to bring in the Greek Freak, that means they’d have to negotiate with Milwaukee as well.
“I think they have a protected first-round pick in 2026. I probably take that,” said Patrick in regards to NY and the Mavs. “But then I got to figure out what am I sending the Bucks for Giannis? If I give up a draft pick to Dallas for J-Kidd, then what’s Milwaukee gonna want? They’re gonna want some draft picks. And what players are you gonna make expendable?”
Patrick and his co-host then explained how trading away key players like Mikal Bridges could leave the Knicks in the same situation they’re already in—stacked with a few major superstars but lacking the bench depth needed to make a real playoff push. The OKC Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, the two teams in the 2025 NBA Finals, are proof that depth matters.
New York would probably love to have Giannis on their roster—it would send Knicks fans into a frenzy.
But it wouldn’t fix the core issues that Thibodeau couldn’t solve either. That said, Kidd and Giannis would certainly make a splash, especially if Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Bridges, and even Karl-Anthony Towns remain. We’ll see what happens.
