Jason Kidd to Knicks just won't go away
Dallas Mavericks first overall pick Cooper Flagg, middle, poses with his jersey with team president and GM Nico Harrison, left, and head coach Jason Kidd following a news conference on Friday at Mavericks Training Center in Dallas. Credit: TNS/Shafkat Anowar
When the Dallas Mavericks put general manager Nico Harrison at a table Wednesday night to speak about the selection of Cooper Flagg, the sure-thing No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, he had to address the uncertain things facing the team, too.
Despite turning down a request from the Knicks to allow Jason Kidd to interview for their vacant head-coaching job, Harrison again was asked about the rumors because they haven’t died down.
“Are there rumors out there about J-Kidd?” Harrison asked reporters. “I thought I shut those down. Yes, he will be the head coach next year.”
Are you convinced now?
Me, I’m not convinced until one of two things happens: Kidd signs a new contract extension worth somewhere in the range of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA with the Mavericks, or the Knicks announce that they are hiring someone else.
The Knicks’ first move in the coaching search was to reach out to five currently employed head coaches, requesting permission from their teams: Kidd, Minnesota’s Chris Finch, Houston’s Ime Udoka, Chicago’s Billy Donovan and Atlanta’s Quin Snyder. They were shut down by all of those teams. Udoka already has a new contract extension from the Rockets and Donovan reportedly is in talks with the Bulls on a new deal.
Kidd was on the stage with Flagg for his introductory news conference Friday, so maybe he will be out of the picture. But Kidd, according to a league source, has not gotten clarity from the Mavericks. And the Knicks, as you might expect, aren’t easing the Mavericks’ minds by announcing that they are willing to walk away from their pursuit.
The Knicks were expected to interview former Charlotte head coach and current New Orleans Pelicans assistant Jame Borrego over the weekend, the fourth known interview of a candidate — following Taylor Jenkins, who was fired by Memphis with nine games left in this just-completed season; Mike Brown, who was let go by Sacramento 31 games into the season, and Minnesota assistant Micah Nori.
Draft recap
The Knicks had little going on during the NBA’s two-night draft, not picking until No. 51 — after swapping spots with the L.A. Clippers to move down from 50th — and selecting Mohamed Diawara, a 20-year-old forward from France. So they’ll avoid the winners-and-losers look back at the draft.
This is always a risky proposition; top picks often don’t pan out and the second round produces surprises such as Jalen Brunson, Manu Ginobili, Draymond Green and Nikola Jokic. So instead of guessing which players will reach their potential, the focus is on the moves that landed the players in their current spots.
The strangest move: The Pelicans can argue that they wound up with a haul of young talent in the draft, selecting Jeremiah Fears at No. 7, moving up to No. 13 to get Derik Queen and adding Micah Peavey in the second round. But to get up to 13, they swapped out the No. 23 overall pick — the 10-spot jump was a curious one, as it wasn’t landing them among the top spots of the draft, where there was believed to be a clear tier — and an unprotected 2026 first-round pick, which easily could be near the top of the draft. This has vibes of the Boston Celtics fleecing the Nets years ago.
Maybe a stranger move: The Nets, once bereft of assets, found themselves with five first-round picks Wednesday, a record for most picks in a first round. It sort of rekindled memories of the 2001 draft, when the Nets swapped out the No. 7 pick (Eddie Griffin from nearby Seton Hall) for the 13th and 18th picks, wound up with Richard Jefferson and Jason Collins and added Brian Scalabrine with the 34th pick, a haul that would help them as a championship contender.
And maybe this group will get there, but the Nets are gambling that there is strength in numbers and that some of their five picks will emerge rather than packaging two — or three or four or even five — of the picks to move up for a more conservative prospect.
Now they’ve got one player who is highly regarded but also divisive among evaluators in BYU’s Egor Demin, a fluid 6-8 point guard who is touted as the best passer in the draft but has a long way to go with his own shot. After that are two international players (Israel’s Ben Saraf and France’s Nolan Traore), UNC’s Drake Powell and Danny Wolf, who starred for Yale before joining Michigan last season.
Do the Nets move some of these prospects in a bigger deal to land some star power, or do they gamble that they can duplicate the blueprint of the Oklahoma City Thunder?
Recovery operation: The Atlanta Hawks have been troubled by wrongheaded moves in recent years, but this past week, they found themselves being applauded even by executives from other teams. Using cap room and Boston’s need to shed salary, they landed Kristaps Porzingis, who, if healthy (a legitimate question), will join Trae Young to form a dangerous offensive pairing. They then were the beneficiaries of the Pelicans’ desire to jump up in the draft, landing the No. 23 pick and the Pelicans’ first-round pick next season. At No. 23, they got Georgia’s Asa Newell, a talented big man. And they still hold a $25 million trade exception they can utilize for another cap-clearing effort by another team.
Summer schooling
The Knicks’ schedule was released for the Las Vegas Summer League — July 11 (6 p.m. ET) vs. Detroit, July 13 (5:30 p.m.) vs. Boston, July 15 (6 p.m.) vs. the Nets and July 17 (4:30 p.m.) vs. Indiana.
The Knicks already have committed second-round pick Mohamad Diawara and undrafted free agent Dink Pate to the summer league roster. The four rookies from last season — Pacome Dadiet, Tyler Kolek, Kevin McCullar and Ariel Hukporti — are expected to participate, but it has not been finalized yet.
It's the end of an era (or error)
The Raptors and team president Masai Ujiri parted ways Friday, a move somewhat surprising because of the power he wielded and the success he fostered in Toronto. However, it wasn’t surprising in some ways because the Raptors have struggled of late and Ujiri was well compensated ($15 million per year) to run the show.
Ujiri seems bound for bigger things; his charitable foundation, Giants of Africa, is doing great work.
For Knicks fans and maybe Knicks executives who’ve been around long enough, it wipes away a face that has haunted them since Ujiri orchestrated the deal that sent Andrea Bargnani to New York — costing the Knicks not only Marcus Camby, Steve Novak and Quentin Richardson but also a first-round pick (that turned into Jacob Poetl) and a pair of second-round picks.
Peace at last for Knicks fans.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
