The Dallas Mavericks have closed the Jason Kidd era. After five years with a record of exactly 205-205 wins and losses, the coach who took them to the 2024 NBA Finals is no longer on the bench - and the story isn't only about the result. Deep in the corridors, it's believed that Kidd had a hand in the shock trade of Luka Dončić to the Lakers last year.

The team's new president, Masai Ujiri (former architect of the Toronto Raptors), reportedly made the decision on Kidd without consulting him at all. Kidd, who only seven months ago signed an extension, was clearly expecting a bigger role. He got - the sack.

And the Dončić story is the one that hurts the fans the most. The generally accepted explanation is that general manager Nico Harrison approved the trade of the Slovenian superstar - but it now emerges that Kidd was unhappy with Dončić's physical condition, and that this was visible to everyone in the organisation. In other words: the coach could have blocked the trade if he'd wanted to. He didn't.

Dončić in the Lakers was one of the biggest shocks in the NBA in recent years. The entire fan base felt it as a betrayal - a superstar in the prime of his career, traded for a couple of insider negotiations and fog. There was no sporting logic. There was only a business that left the fans out.

The Mavericks are now trying to open a new chapter with Cooper Flagg as the new face of the project - the first pick of this year's draft. But the road ahead is hard: an organisation that in one year lost both Dončić and Kidd has to convince its fan base that it has a plan. For now - it has only new names and old pain.