Jason Kidd has decided not to be a candidate for the Trail Blazers’ vacant head coaching job, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“Portland’s a first-class organization and will have great candidates for its head coaching job, but I’ve decided not to be one of them,” Kidd said. “Whoever they choose will have big shoes to fill from Terry (Stotts).”
According to Wojnarowski, Kidd became uncomfortable with seeking the Trail Blazers’ job after star guard Damian Lillard said Friday that Kidd was his top choice. Kidd was concerned that Lillard’s public comment would put the team in an awkward position if he interviewed for the post.
“Jason Kidd is the guy I want,” Lillard said after news broke that Stotts won’t be returning next season.
Kidd, a former head coach with the Nets and Bucks, has been the top assistant to Frank Vogel with the Lakers for the past two seasons.
Sources tell Wojnarowski that the Blazers haven’t talked to any potential candidates yet or reached out for permission to interview anybody, but that process should begin once the last first-round series wraps up today.
Portland is expected to consider Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups, former Knicks and Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy and Michigan coach Juwan Howard, sources tell ESPN.
Kidd is not good enough to take Blazers to promised land
The coach who really doesn’t care about expectation is Mike Dantoni
He likes 4 years contract
I think he might be the best fit with the team.
Let Dame and CJ shoot the ball, all game.
CJ is probably not gonna be there next year lol
D’Antoni is one of the most overrated head coaches I have ever seen. He can’t, or simply won’t, make any adjustments. He just runs his star guards into the ground. I would love to see Lillard wake up and leave Portland by any means necessary, but if he refuses, I hope the Blazers do sign D’Antoni…they won’t win anything with that guy. Quite frankly, Lillard is too good to never have a shot at a championship, and if he can’t see that will not happen in Portland, that is on him.
Ut-oh where does this leave Damian Lillard if Chauncey Billups says no or doesn’t get hired?
That giant gust of wind on the Oregon coast is every Blazers fan exhaling….
I feel like Jeff Van Gundy is going to be brought up every off season until the guy is 6 feet under and even then he may still be mentioned as a possible candidate for jobs
The real problem is that Jeff Van Gundy would be a better coach than a lot of guys even after he is 6 feet under. He’s better at preparation and in-game adjustments, and holds players accountable.
@Chris – no way man. Not a chance. The guy is a dinosaur. Doug Collins re-do.
Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeaux are older than Jeff Van Gundy.
@Chris – It’s not age, it’s his understanding of the game. He’s oblivious to analytics, and you can tell by his analysis he’s stopped paying attention. His brother is better, but not by much.
Everytime he whines about offensive rebounding, you can tell the game has passed him by.
Van Gundy has spent the past 5 years with team USA and has done nothing but win in Popovich’s absence. Admired as one of the smartest coaches with the team. There’s a reason he’s always mentioned for jobs, because he’s still respected around the league. @Lancaster Offensive rebounds don’t win games???? Have you ever played basketball in your life?? @Marty how can you call yourself progressive when you’re calling for an entire generation to be refused employment, you’re a fraud had to take time out of my Sunday to just let you know.
Jimmy – Offensive rebound percentage in the NBA is way down compared to 20 or 40 years ago (from 30-35% to just north of 20%). If you Google why, you’ll learn that it’s not super smart to emphasize because it facilitates transition opportunities for the opposing team. Dean Smith is the guy who first laid out the math, but it’s pretty logical when you think about it.
Which brings me to Jeff Van Gundy. Not a broadcast goes by where he doesn’t complain about the lack of emphasis on offensive rebounding. The guy is clueless.
And yes, Van Gundy coached Team USA in the world championships. But that doesn’t prove he’s a good coach – he’s implementing the Team USA system/scheme with elite level talent in a competition the US is always favored to win. That’s not a high bar to clear.
538 has a lot of great information about modern NBA basketball, as does the book “Thinking Basketball.” I’d encourage you to read both.
Stop. Giving. Boomers. Coaching. Jobs. Make. Them. Finally. Retire.
He has become the NBA’s version of Bill Cowher.
Kidd was concerned that Lillard’s public comment would put the team in an awkward position if he interviewed for the post.++
This makes no sense
Although, some of the candidates mentioned already …Jeff Van Gundy others, are retreads
Juwan Howard would be interesting, but would he leave Michigan? I think he is happy there.
I hope the Trailblazers think outside the box and get someone good
What doesn’t make sense? The Blazers are probably concerned that Lillard could ask out of Portland and so they could feel pressure to agree to his preference for a new coach. Jason Kidd may not have wanted the perception to be that he was hired simply because he was Lillard’s guy.
I think it’s Billups ultimately. Kidd has been a HC before, and either is happier being an AC, has a beat on another job he would prefer, or better understands the pressures of Dames comments. Billups was Dames other choice, and with him not holding the lead bench job before, is likely to say yes if they ask.
Kidd is smart, no question. He’s only going to get one more shot at being a head coach in the NBA, and this job is going to be damned difficult. The Blazers don’t have a lot of paths to dramatic improvement.
Besides, if the Lakers don’t hit the ground running next season (and if everyone is healthy), Vogel is highly likely to get fired.
You summed it up.
It’s an experience building HC job, & Kidd is looking for the perfect fit.
I think it’s championship or fired for Vogel, next year.
Dame confirmed traded this offseason.
Wonder if Van Grundy a candidate for the Magic. We did not want Van Grundy for Rockets again. But hope whomever takes the Portland team is someone strong. Need someone to take them deeper to the promised land. Myself in sports tired of same teams going to playoffs and it being big market teams and lower market just do not get deep. I hope Lillard gets strong support behind him and a coach that can lead them
Kidd is a basketball savant and I think will continue his interrupted rise to superstar coach at some point. But I’d advise him against saying things like he doesn’t want to put a FO in a tough position. He can’t rewrite the past, nor does he need to. Just stop inspiring punch lines about it.
I have a new level of respect for Kidd. If you want to be a chamionship team, there has to be alignment throughout the organization. Kidd doesn’t think that it is possible with the Blazers. Whether he thinks the hiring process is already compromised, the roster can’t be molded to be any better, or he has a head coaching job in waiting, he spoke up early and said he is out. He handled it more tactfully than I can recall anyone doing in a long time.
As mentioned before he probably thinks the Lakers job is his for the taking once Frank Vogel’s time has taking its course.
Probably a good thing, time to look at an underdog like Mosley, Cassell, Vanterpool, Howard etc
It’s time for Lillard to move on…it has been that time for years.
Best of luck, to the team hiring Kidd as HC.
Fire Olshey first!!!!!
Let the new guy decide on the HC.
Trade CJM for an expiring, get some room.
Would prefer MIL still had Kidd not Bud.