Rafael Barlowe

On Tuesday, the Mavericks announced that the team and head coach Jason Kidd had mutually agreed to part ways. On Thursday morning, Kidd issued a statement thanking the organization with which he spent the last five seasons (Twitter link).

“I want to sincerely thank the Mavericks organization, the players, coaches, staff, front office, ownership, and every employee behind the scenes who put their heart into this team every single day. It has been an honor to work alongside so many incredible people,” he said. “To the players, thank you for your trust, your commitment, and the battles we went through together. I am proud of what we built, the relationships formed, and the way you competed night in and night out.”

He finished by thanking the fan base and the city of Dallas.

The Hall of Fame point guard finished his time in Dallas with a 205-205 record, falling to .500 overall during the last two seasons as the Mavs were beset injuries as well as the trade of Luka Doncic. Under Kidd, the team advanced to the 2024 NBA Finals as well as the 2022 Western Conference Finals.

We have more notes from the Mavs:

• Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney is expected to draw significant interest from the Mavs as they seek Kidd’s successor, per ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel (Twitter link). Sweeney, long considered a head coaching candidate, has been an assistant in the league since 2013 and spent four years in Dallas before being hired by San Antonio in 2025. He has also been connected to the coaching searches in Chicago and Orlando this spring.
• New Mavs president Masai Ujiri has said that he plans to cast a wide net as the team seeks a new head coach. One possible target is Duke coach Jon Scheyer — Siegel reports that Dallas is expected to reach out to Scheyer, though he’s considered to be committed to his current position with the Blue Devils. Jared Dudley (Nuggets), Micah Nori (Timberwolves), Frank Vogel (Mavericks), and current coaching free agents like Tom Thibodeau and Donovan are some other potential candidates to keep an eye on for the Mavs, Mike Curtis speculates for the Dallas Morning News.
• As part of the organizational shake-up that comes with new leadership, Rafael Barlowe is no longer with the team after nearly a year of serving as an international scout for the team, Barlowe confirmed on Twitter. Prior to his time in Dallas, Barlowe scouted the draft for the website NBABigBoard.com.