A new report just gave the Jason Kidd-Knicks buzz real legs

The Knicks might be reunited with a familiar face soon, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN just revealed that there is "mutual intrigue" in Jason Kidd becoming the next head coach of the Knicks. Kidd spent the final year of his playing career in New York and currently serves as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.

Reports had been circulating in recent days that the Knicks were interested in bringing their old point guard back as a head coach, after they made the decision to dismiss Tom Thibodeau after five seasons. Now, Windhorst is confirming that the interest is shared by Kidd himself.

Now, considering Kidd is currently under contract, things get a bit more complicated. The Mavericks have the power to simply deny the Knicks access to speak to Kidd. After all, Kidd led the Mavericks to the finals just two seasons ago and has two years left on his contract with Dallas.

The Mavericks also have the ability to simply let him walk and join the Knicks. That seems unlikely, as there isn't much motivation to part with a valued coach for no reason. Or, perhaps most likely, they have the ability to ask for compensation for Kidd by trading him to New York.

What a trade could look like

While it isn't the most common thing in the world, coaches have been traded from one organization to another before. In fact, Kidd himself was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Milwaukee Bucks, as Windhorst pointed out during his ESPN report, for two second-round picks back in 2014.

The year before that, the Celtics traded head coach Doc Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers for a future first-round pick.

The Knicks have limited draft capital. It is hard to imagine they would be willing to part with much to land a coach. Still, there options seem to be somewhat limited. By all accounts, they fired Thibodeau without a succession plan in mind. Kidd has proven he has the ability to coach a team to the finals, something Thibodeau wasn't able to accomplish.

There is also the fact that Kidd has a relationship with both the franchise and its star player, as he coached Jalen Brunson prior to his trade to the Knicks. If they wanted to hire a coach who was available, they likely would have done so already.

The Knicks are the only team in the league without a head coach, so there isn't anyone competing with them to get who they want. Still, there should be urgency to fill the position so they can start evaluating their roster, which has questions of its own.