End of the 'Doncic era' at the Dallas Mavericks: Jason Kidd out

End of the Jason Kidd era at the Dallas Mavericks. The Texan franchise announced the coach's departure on Tuesday after five seasons, in a decision described as "mutual", marking the beginning of a deep restructuring led by the new president of operations, Masai Ujiri. What started with Nico Harrison trading Luka Doncic has ended with a turnaround for the franchise. 

Kidd still had four years left on his contract and over 40 million dollars pending, but the owner Patrick Dumont granted full authority to Ujiri to decide the future of the bench. The Canadian executive made it clear in a statement that the goal is to start a new chapter in Dallas. Tremendous move by Dumont. Incredible. Understandable now the decision, but it leaves behind the worst trade in history authorized by himself and now a fortune for Kidd. 

"We believe this is the right time for a new direction for our team," Ujiri explained. "We have high expectations for this franchise and the responsibility to build an organization capable of consistently competing for the championship."

Kidd's departure comes after a disappointing season where the Mavericks finished with a record of 26 wins and 56 losses, failing to make the playoffs. In his five seasons as head coach, Kidd accumulated a total record of 205-205 and led Dallas through two major postseason runs: the 2022 Western Conference Finals and the 2024 NBA Finals.

However, the project took a radical shift following the controversial exit of Luka Doncic. Just months after reaching the Finals, Dallas surprised the entire NBA by trading the Slovenian star to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025 in exchange for a package centering around Anthony Davis.

The operation turned out to be a disaster for the franchise, leading to the dismissal of general manager Nico Harrison eight months later. Kidd reiterated on multiple occasions that he was unaware of the trade until "the last minute", especially after former minority owner Mark Cuban publicly insinuated that the coach had been involved in the decision.

Despite internal tensions, the numbers reflect Doncic's impact on the team's performance during Kidd's tenure. Dallas had a record of 136-87 with the Slovenian on the court and 69-118 without him.

New Project

The reconstruction of the project also reached the franchise's offices on Tuesday. Dallas dismissed several members of the operations department, including assistant general manager Matt Riccardi. The future of Michael Finley within the organization is still undefined.

Furthermore, sources close to the team indicated that Kidd had shown interest in becoming president of operations after Harrison's dismissal, although Dumont informed him months ago that he would not be considered for that position. The coach also did not take part in the process that led to Ujiri's arrival.

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