DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks have zeroed in on their top candidate to replace Rick Carlisle as head coach. Mark Cuban and Mavericks brass is actively in negotiations with former Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd.
A high-ranking Mavs front office source confirmed the negotiations, as Dallas gets closer to nailing down the deal.
Kidd spent one season with the Nets, before a four-year stint with the Bucks. He led the Nets to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they lost to Lebron James and the Miami Heat. His time with the Bucks was marked with inconsistency, as he coached a Bucks team had yet to mature into the title contender they are today. Milwaukee made the playoffs in his first and third years, before he was fired midway through his fourth season with the team. For the last two years, he's been an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kidd was first linked to the Mavericks job by Carlisle. Earlier in the day on Thursday, Carlisle was reported to be taking the Indiana Pacers job. And in his statement to ESPN about taking that job, he expressed his 'hope' that Kidd would be the next Mavs head coach. Over the course of Thursday evening, that 'hope' has developed into real conversations between Kidd and the Mavs front office, as they now sit on the precipice of a deal.
In addition to Kidd, the Mavs are also reportedly pursuing long-time Nike executive Nico Harrison, to work in concert with Michael Finley atop the organization's basketball operations department.