Amid speculation that he may become the new head coach of the New York Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks fully expect Jason Kidd will remain with the organization for the foreseeable future.

The Mavericks have been privately insisting to key stakeholders that Kidd will not be leaving the franchise this offseason, according to The Athletic’s Christian Clark and Sam Amick. Instead, Kidd is reportedly hoping to parlay the Knicks’ interest in him into a new contract extension with the Mavericks.

Specifics of that deal, including what it will look like or when it will be finalized, are not yet known.

The report comes amid speculation the Knicks — who fired coach Tom Thibodeau last week following their exit from the Eastern Conference finals — would try to make a play for Kidd. The organization had serious interest in hiring Kidd, per The Athletic, but were denied the opportunity to speak with the coach, NBA insider Marc Stein reported Wednesday.

The Knicks also requested permission to speak with Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch and Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka for their open job, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. They were denied on those requests.

Kidd has spent the past four seasons with the Mavericks. He’s compiled a 179-149 record and led them to their first NBA Finals appearance last season since 2011, when the team still had star Luka Dončić on the roster. While Dončić has since been traded away, the Mavericks won the NBA Draft lottery this spring and are now in position to select Duke star Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick later this month.

The Mavericks also struck a deal to hire longtime assistant Jay Triano on Tuesday. Triano, who was last on Mike Brown’s staff in Sacramento, will join the team as a lead assistant. According to The Athletic, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made it clear to Triano that Kidd would be the team’s head coach next season when hiring him.

The Knicks surprised the NBA world last week when they parted ways with Thibodeau, who led the team to the conference finals for the first time since 2000. He brought the team back to relevance, too, and made four postseason appearances in five years after a seven-year drought from the playoffs. There are several notable names who could replace Thibodeau in New York, though that coaching search is just getting started. New York is the only team in the league without a head coach.

The concerns about the small-market NBA Finals didn’t prevent the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder from delivering a classic in Game 1. They do, however, seem to have impacted ratings as expected.

Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals averaged a 4.7 rating and 8.91 million viewers on ABC, making it the least-watched Game 1 of the Nielsen meter era (since 1988) outside of the league’s COVID-19-fueled ratings nadir in 2020 and 2021, according to Sports Media Watch.

Those numbers are an 18% ratings decline and 19% viewership decline from last year’s NBA Finals opener in which the Boston Celtics faced the Dallas Mavericks. The decline would have been worse had Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers not launched a furious comeback in the final minutes to stun the Thunder.

Game 2 wasn’t any better, either. The Thunder’s blowout win on Sunday drew near-identical numbers to the opening game of the series. It averaged 8.76 million viewers on ABC, which made it the least-watched Game 2 since 2007, excluding the COVID-19 bubble in 2020.

Those numbers seemingly vindicate what many have said about a clash between teams from the 25th and 47th largest markets in the Nielsen rankings, with Oklahoma City’s mayor bristling at those concerns ahead of the game. 

Of course, it’s also important to maintain perspective about how much ratings matter. Sure, the NBA would love if 100% of households were tuning into its signature event, but the league just finalized $76 billion in television deals for the next 11 season. While ratings are down, the league extracts value from many other areas. Your favorite team will be fine. Your favorite player will be fine.

NBA’s PR team also pointed to some positives, such as the Game 1 broadcast reaching 11 million viewers by the time Haliburton made his game-winning shot with 0.3 seconds left, strong viewership among the 18-to-34-year-old demographic and a record number of views on social media.

The Pacers’ win could aid ratings down the line, as many viewers might not have tuned in due to how lopsided the series was perceived to be. The Thunder opened as a -800 favorite to win their first title in OKC, the best odds since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors.

The Thunder have been so dominant this season that, even with the series tied 1-1 now, they are still -575 favorites to win it all. They aren’t unstoppable, though, and plenty of fans could be interested in either a comeback or one of the biggest upsets in NBA Finals history.