Shortly after the Mavericks parted ways with Jason Kidd, the rumors began to surface about what caused the two parties to end the professional relationship.
Subsequently, ESPN’s senior NBA insider, Shams Charania, appeared on the Pat McAfee show and explained that this decision is seen clouded with the residual impact of trading their superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers in February 2025.
“You have to look at the leadership that’s now coming in. Masai Ujiri, 12 years he spent in Toronto as a vice chairman there. Now he gets the president job, the alternate governor job in Dallas, and he has full authority to do whatever he wants with the direction of this team.”
“And so in the last seven months, you trade Anthony Davis, you fire Nico Harrison, and now you fire Jason Kidd. And you know, when I talk to people around that organization the last 24 hours, you think about the residue that’s all come from the trade of Luka Doncic, right?”
“And everything that’s come out of that and you’ve had an owner there in Patrick Dumont who’s admitted that he made a mistake that he made a mistake by greenlighting that trade. And so, how involved was Jason Kidd? He wasn’t making the trade, but Mav sources do believe that he had a level of support for that trade.”
“So Masai Ujiri comes in, and I think for him it’s a complete restart, a clean slate, a fresh start for the entire organization. They’ve already fired Nico Harrison. Now you fired Jason Kidd. Anthony Davis is already gone. You traded him basically for salaries and a few draft picks.”
“You still have Kyrie Irving on this team, who you feel like has a future with Cooper Flagg. Everything around this organization that’s the one element of the team that’s not going to change; it’s Cooper Flagg.”
“But for them to move off of Jason Kidd right now, Pat, they’re eating four years and almost $45 million to get off of Jason Kidd and essentially wash their hands of the situation. And this is all because team leadership wants a clean start.”
Initially, Mark Cuban suggested that Kidd knew about the trade, which he publicly denied. But now Charania says he not only knew but also internally supported it.
When the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic, they were hoping to improve defensively in 2025-26 and planned to run a big three of Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Cooper Flagg to compete for a championship. However, their plans clearly got derailed as Davis and Irving both struggled with injuries, and the ownership admitted their mistake of trading Doncic.
Initially, a report from NBA insider Scoop B Robinson suggested that it was Kidd who “wanted out” of the Mavericks, but additional information also suggests that both parties had reasons to want to end Kidd’s tenure with the team.
Later, Charania also shed light on the potential dynamic between the previous majority owner, Mark Cuban, and Patrick Dumont, their current owner. He pointed out that Kyrie Irving remains the only common piece from both their eras, which has created a shadow of doubt over the 34-year-old point guard’s future with the team as the top contenders are apparently monitoring the situation.
“There’s no question Jason Kidd, anyone else in that organization, where they were with the Luka Doncic of it all. Maybe that didn’t play a factor in people’s firings, but certainly from an informational perspective, there’s good background context,” Charania added.
“There’s an investigation to an extent that you have to do when you come into an organization. So there’s that, there’s the infighting that’s been going on internally there. There’s been so much toxicity around that organization that Masai Ujiri is now inheriting.”
Kyrie Irving has not played basketball in over a year, and he still has a lot of demand in the league because teams know what he is capable of. In the 2024-25 season, before his ACL injury, Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.1% from beyond the arc, while being selected for his ninth All-Star team.
Teams like the Timberwolves and the Rockets were named among potential suitors keeping an eye on Irving’s situation in Dallas. Irving is entering the final guaranteed season (2026-27) on his contract, where he is expected to earn a $39.5 million and a player option for the 2027-28 season worth $42.4 million.
If the Mavericks are looking for a complete rebuild, they might trade Kyrie Irving as well. But considering that he has to still show he remains capable of performing like his usual self after recovering from an ACL tear in his left knee.
Therefore, if any move is to happen, for the franchise to get maximum value in return, they might wait until the season begins. But it will surely be interesting to see where the road leads the Mavericks now.
