The ink only recently dried on Jason Kidd’s walking papers out of Milwaukee, and he’s already angling to get back into coaching for next season.
League sources tell Sporting News that Kidd wants to get either the Suns job or the Knicks job. Both could open at season’s end.
Jay Triano replaced Earl Watson after three games in Phoenix, but only on an interim basis. In New York, Jeff Hornacek will probably finish out the season, but he now reports to two men who didn’t hire him: general manager Scott Perry and team president Steve Mills. Hornacek was then-team president Phil Jackson’s surprise hire in May of 2016.
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Kidd has a history with both teams and strong ties to both areas. He played five years with the Suns, from 1997-2001, and then finished his Hall of Fame career with the Knicks in 2013. His best seasons as a pro came with the Nets when they played across the Hudson in the Meadowlands. As an MVP candidate, he led the franchise to its two only NBA Finals berths, in 2002 and 2003.
During his final season in Milwaukee, Kidd had problems with the Bucks’ front office and ownership. Weeks before his Jan. 22 firing, he told close associates that he wouldn’t mind losing his job because he was already looking at landing one of the two jobs he covets.
"It’s amazing that he keeps getting jobs because he’s just an OK coach," one Western Conference GM told Sporting News. "But he is trying to maneuver to get the Phoenix job, and he’s also very interested in New York."
Kidd thinks the Suns and Knicks can show significant improvement in the near future as they build around rising stars Devin Booker in Phoenix and Kristaps Porzingis in New York. The Mills-Perry regime is expected to be running the Knicks into the future, but Phoenix owner Robert Sarver could make wholesale changes to his basketball operations this coming offseason, starting with firing GM Ryan McDonough, sources say.
Despite his problems in Milwaukee and earlier during his one season coaching the Nets, Kidd is seen as a viable candidate in both spots. Triano hasn’t yet secured the permanent coaching tag and might not in the near future. Hornacek has one year left on his three-year, $15 million deal, but at this point, it would be a surprise if he were to return next season.
The Knicks are also expected to look at former Knick and New York native Mark Jackson, the former Golden State coach who is hugely popular with New York fans and has a longtime relationship with Mills.
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— Chris Paul, traded to Houston in a blockbuster deal last June. Blake Griffin, gone to Detroit in another mega-deal earlier this week. What does it mean for DeAndre Jordan? He likely will be moving on by this week’s trade deadline, marking the end of "Lob City."
Milwaukee, in win-now mode, and Cleveland, always looking to make moves at the deadline to keep LeBron James happy, remain the two favorites, sources say. Sources say Miami, Portland and Orlando recently made inquiries about Jordan as well.
By unloading the remainder of Griffin’s monster contract — $141 million over the next four years — to open cap space, especially for the summer of 2019, the Clippers have all but said they want Jordan off their salary books as well. He has a player option for next season, at $24 million, but has sent signals that he’s looking to opt out and get a new multi-year, mega-deal of his own in July. (The Clippers and Jordan aren't close on a contract agreement at this point, according to Brad Turner of the LA Times.)
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As was the case when they sent Griffin to the Pistons, the Clippers don’t want any players with multi-year contracts coming back in a Jordan deal. It’s all about getting cap relief this summer and next, when Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and Kevin Love headline the 2019 free agent class.
If that also means they don’t make the lottery this season, owner Steve Ballmer can live with that. The Clips’ best-case scenario: They land in the lottery, while Detroit also fails to make the playoffs. That would give them two lottery picks, with the idea of packaging the two to move up to get a top-three selection in the draft.
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— The Clips’ Lou Williams is also the subject of plenty of trade rumors, as Toronto, Boston, Detroit and Miami are all seen as places he might wind up by the deadline. The Heat would like Williams to take the place of the injured Dion Waiters.
— Kristaps Porzingis wants the Knicks to be buyers at the deadline so he can reach the playoffs for the first time in his career, but they want to move shooting guard Courtney Lee for a first-round pick. They’re not going to make the playoffs for the fifth straight season, and so they’re seen as sellers, along with Utah, Atlanta and Orlando.
— The Jazz are listening on all players, except for Rudy Gobert and rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell. Rodney Hood has drawn some interest.
— The Hawks are in full tank mode and want to deal off Kent Bazemore, Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli. They aren’t taking back players on long-term deals.
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— Orlando is investigating moving everyone, except rookie Jonathan Isaac. Even Aaron Gordon is up for discussion. The Magic don’t want to overpay Gordon, a restricted free agent in July.
— John Wall will be out possibly as long as two months, but the Wizards are not expected to make a major move to cover for his absence due to another round of knee surgery. One scout’s appraisal of the Wizards: "They’ve got some real internal issues, and it starts with the fact that John Wall is not a leader."
— Greg Monroe is just what Boston needs: A low-post scorer with some much-needed size for the frontcourt and a perfect bench player. Monroe is a major upgrade over Aaron Baynes and other Celtics bigs. The Pels were the big losers in the Monroe sweepstakes, as they tried to bring him in with Nikola Mirotic to make up for the loss of DeMarcus Cousins.
Listen to Mitch Lawrence on SiriusXM NBA Radio on The Starting Lineup, Above The Rim, NBA Today and NBA Weekend. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Lawrence.
