The Masai Ujiri era in Dallas is already making itself felt. The Mavericks and head coach Jason Kidd have parted ways by mutual agreement, the team announced Tuesday – just 15 days after the franchise hired the longtime Toronto Raptors president to run its basketball operations.
Kidd, a Hall of Famer who took the Dallas job in 2021, finishes with a 205-205 record across five seasons. His tenure included a Western Conference Finals run in 2022, a trip to the NBA Finals in 2024, and a 26-56 collapse in 2025-26 that the organization has been explaining ever since the Luka Doncic trade.
Why the split happened
The decision traces back to the moment Ujiri walked through the door. The new president arrived with a mandate to evaluate every piece of the franchise. Kidd had reportedly sought a promotion to the front office when GM Nico Harrison was fired in November, but owner Patrick Dumont made clear months ago that Kidd was not under consideration for any executive role.
According to CBS Sports and ESPN, Kidd was not closely involved in the process that led to Ujiri’s hiring. That left him in a difficult position – a coach without institutional backing under a new boss with full authority to rebuild from scratch.
What Dallas inherits
Kidd had four years and more than $40 million remaining on his contract. Dallas will likely owe him the bulk of that. The Mavericks join a list of reportedly six teams searching for a head coach this summer.
The next coach inherits a franchise at a genuine inflection point. Dallas owns the first pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, and Cooper Flagg has already been named 2025-26 Rookie of the Year after a historic season in Texas. Whoever Ujiri selects will have a young franchise player, a top pick, and a front office rebuilt from the ground up.
Kidd, 53, won two NBA championships as a player and remains one of the most decorated coaches in recent Mavericks history. His exit is less a verdict on his body of work than the natural consequence of a front-office reset – one that was coming the moment Ujiri signed his contract.
Sources: ESPN, CBS Sports, NBC Sports
