Ever since theDallas Mavericksshockingly traded Luka Doncic to theLos Angeles Lakerslast February, they have undergone wholesale changes. They traded Anthony Davis, the superstar big man they received in the Doncic trade, to theWashington Wizardsand fired Nico Harrison, the executive who executed the Doncic trade, earlier this season. Now, they have fired Jason Kidd, who was their head coach for the past five seasons.
Kidd's firing came as something of a surprise, especially after he guided a somewhat subpar Mavericks squad to the 2024 NBA Finals despite finishing with only the fifth seed in the Western Conference that year.
ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania appeared on "The Pat McAfee Show" andshared an interesting nugget: Kidd had a level of involvement in Doncic being shipped to Los Angeles.
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“How involved was Jason Kidd?” Charania said. “He wasn't making the trade, but Mavs sources do believe that he had a level of support for that trade.”
It seems as if the Mavericks are suffering from a major case of bad karma after getting rid of Doncic, given the injuries that players such as Davis and Kyrie Irving have suffered since. They have missed the playoffs in both of the last two seasons after playing for the world championship two calendar years ago, and although they were fortunate enough to draft Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, their future is quite murky.
Meanwhile, the Lakers have a glimmer of hope after Doncic got into much better shape and put forth an MVP-caliber campaign during which he won his second scoring title and averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals a game. They have plenty of work to do this offseason, but if they make the right moves, perhaps they will seriously contend for the NBA title next season.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire:Jason Kidd reportedly supported Luka Doncic trade to Lakers