DALLAS — Last week, Dallas Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont told The Dallas Morning News that the franchise, starting first thing Monday, would be very active in speaking to “a lot” of potential candidates for its open vice president of basketball operations position. But what if Dumont doesn’t look outside the organization to find someone who has the intangibles he said he wants? He ...

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd watches the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks at American Airlines Center on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Dallas.

Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

DALLAS — Last week, Dallas Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont told The Dallas Morning News that the franchise, starting first thing Monday, would be very active in speaking to “a lot” of potential candidates for its open vice president of basketball operations position.

But what if Dumont doesn’t look outside the organization to find someone who has the intangibles he said he wants? He specified that he wants someone with a proven track record; who can build a strong culture; who is a strong talent evaluator; and can effectively communicate within the organization and to the public.

Yes, we’re referring to Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, who this season took over as acting co-general managers after the Nov. 11 firing of Nico Harrison. But we’re also wondering about coach Jason Kidd.

Kidd, 53, just completed his fifth season as Mavericks coach. There was speculation much of the season that Kidd might be a Mavericks front office candidate, though that speculation diminished late in the season.

Here’s what does seem clear, though: Dumont has high regard for Kidd, as evidenced by the two contract extensions he’s received in the last three years — and by Dumont’s extensive comments last week when The News asked him to evaluate Kidd.

“First off, it was a tough year from an injury perspective,” Dumont said. “It was a very tough year from a win-loss perspective. But Coach Kidd is a Hall of Famer. He won a championship with the Mavs. He’s one of our all time greats.

“He and Dirk and the rest of that team really did a phenomenal thing to win that championship. They were amazing. That was some of the greatest basketball ever; one of the greatest playoff runs ever.”

Kidd indeed is a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer as a player, Class of 2018, the same one with which now-Mavericks CEO Rick Welts was inducted.

The Mavericks are coming off a 26-56 season; just Dallas’ second 50-loss year in the last 28 seasons. But Kidd also coached the Mavericks to the 2022 Western Conference finals and the 2024 NBA Finals.

“He knows the game,” Dumont said. “And he’s had great coaching success, and this was a tough year. I look back to last season, the injury that Kyrie [Irving] had, some of the other injuries we had, and how hard the guys played for Coach.

“This year, same thing. We played a lot of close games that could have gone either way. The team continued to battle through adversity and through a lot of injuries. And look, that’s really a testament to Coach Kidd and the rest of the coaching staff.”

Even if Kidd is not a vice president of basketball operations candidate, Dumont’s regard for him certainly would seem significant from this standpoint: What if the new VP of operations has someone he’d like to hire as the head coach, which often is the case when a new executive takes over basketball operations?

This might be the most telling Dumont of all about Kidd:

“He’s an important voice in our organization. I really value his insights and his knowledge of the game. I know the rest of our team does as well. He’s just been unbelievably committed to our franchise, both as a player and as a coach over these many years.”

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