“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans. This pursuit led us to the difficult decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we’ve decided to move in another direction”. With that announcement, a 5-year journey came to an end. After the Knicks’ elimination, people felt a drastic team decision was imminent. After all, the 2024-25 season was the Knicks’ best one in ages, as the team reached the Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years. That was both good and bad, since the squad had a chance to make it to the Final stage, but faltered. A major reason for this firing, according to Yahoo Sports’ Vince Goodwill, was that there was a major disconnect between the coach and some of the players. However, if that was the case, then it certainly wasn’t all players.

The official X account of ‘New York Basketball’ recently highlighted an interview between 2024 Knicks Draft Pick Pacome Dadiet and Knicks 1999 1st-round pick Frederic Weis. The conversation took place in French, with the recent rookie discussing highlights of his first NBA season. During the same time, Dadiet decided to give his flowers to Thibodeau by stating, “I had a coach who’s really good for the young players, especially in terms of discipline, so that laid a good foundation…I think that’ll help me in the future”. That is certainly one fierce statement.

Pacome Dadiet, in his rookie season with the Knicks, alternated between the main league and the G League. The 25th overall pick couldn’t make too much of an impact, as he only averaged 1.7 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 0.3 assists throughout 18 games. Throughout the season, Tom Thibodeau and his staff were commended for their emphasis on player development during their tenure. However, the head coach also reportedly got a reputation for being resistant to significant playing time for youngsters.

They made several calls to give more minutes to Pacome Dadiet on the court. After all, by March, Dadiet was averaging 13.3 points per game, on 58.5% true shooting, along with 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, in the G-League. ‘The Lead’ reporter Reyaz Ally claimed that they should have prioritized Dadiet to play over Landry Shamet and Precious Achiuwa, especially for Achiuwa, since the 25-year-old was not a floor spacer, while the French player was.

Despite that, Pacome Dadiet holds Tom Thibodeau in high regard. After all, if there was one thing the former Knicks head coach specialized in, it was the strict discipline he imposed on his players. He placed more minutes on starters than the coach of any other NBA team, and made his players follow a strict practice regimen.

Thibodeau has been like that from the start, as once, when Luol Deng came to the Bulls’ practice facility to “get a few shots up” alone, he ran into Thibodeau. His new coach put the unsuspecting Deng through “one of the toughest workouts I’ve ever done”. Thibodeau also went viral back in 2017 after they revealed that Thibodeau called for a practice right after the Minnesota Timberwolves took a 14-hour flight to China for a worldwide training camp as part of the preseason. As Taj Gibson revealed, “We didn’t even really have time to unpack”.

It is not easy for everyone to adjust to such a practice regime. However, as Kobe Bryant once said, “I just think European players are just way more skillful”. Therefore, despite his low scoring and low opportunities to prove his worth, Pacome Dadiet was willing to pick up anything the coach was throwing in his direction.

Now, he will have to adjust to working under the leadership of a different coach. We don’t know whether that will be a boon or a bane. However, from the looks of things, there will be a good one coming his and the squad’s way.

ESPN analyst highlights details of a potential Jason Kidd acquisition

The Knicks fan base is certainly an unhappy one after the team’s elimination. Coming so close to the first championship trophy in 25 years, only to be eliminated by the Indiana Pacers, would sting. However, their unhappiness certainly might not top that of the Dallas Mavericks. After all, only a season after the team made it to the NBA Finals, they traded Luka Doncic away for injury-prone Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving sustained a season-ending injury a few weeks later, and the Mavs ended up as the 10th seed thanks to a 39-43 record. Though Mavs head coach Jason Kidd has not shown it over the last few months, he might be open to a change. As it turns out, the Knicks have an open head coach spot for them.

In a recent segment of SportsCenter, Brian Windhorst discussed a potential team-up between Jason Kidd and the New York Knicks. He said, “The way I would describe this is there’s mutual intrigue on both sides. I know there’s this whole thing about asking permission, you don’t ask for permission to hire another team’s coach. When you ask, you’re going to hire them.” At the same time, Windhorst also highlighted that the Mavericks would have the ability to reject the Knicks’ advances. They can sign Kidd to an extension to persuade him to stay, or try to work out a trade with New York. Anything can happen. If the Mavs have shown themselves to be anything in the last few months, ‘unpredictable’ is certainly on the list.

Jason Kidd isn’t too unfamiliar with the Knicks. He has been coaching his team to compete against the franchise for more than a decade now. Before that, Kidd also played his final NBA season, as a point guard, with the franchise in 2012-13. He has also previously worked with Jalen Brunson when the latter was with the Dallas Mavericks.

At the same time, it is important to remember that Kidd is under contract for 2 more seasons. Back in May 2024, amid rumors that the Lakers were planning to acquire the coach, the Mavericks responded by immediately signing him to an extension, which won’t expire until after the 2026-27 season. Therefore, it will be hard to get the coach out even if he wants to.

Do you think that Jason Kidd should join the New York Knicks? If he does, will he do justice to Pacome Dadiet and other younger players’ minutes? Let us know in the comments section down below.