There's no shortage of blame to go around for this disastrous Dallas Mavericks' season: their squishy defense, iffy chemistry, injuries to key players, Jalen Brunson's dad. But the one place where Mavs' owner Mark Cuban isn't willing to pass the blame is to Jason Kidd, the Mavericks' embattled head coach. In an unplanned media availability appearance on Wednesday night, Cuban vowed that Kidd is “absolutely” going to come back as coach next year.

Kidd is smack dab in the middle of a four year deal that he signed in 2021 when he took the job and replaced Rick Carlisle.

After leading the Maverickss to a Western Conference Finals in his first year with the team last season, Kidd hasn't been able to summon that same alchemy in this season. The loss of former point guard Jalen Brunson has proven to be somewhat catastrophic—Brunson has put together an All-NBA caliber season with the Knicks while Christian Wood and JaVale McGee, the Mavericks' marquee off-season signings, have disappointed in Dallas.

Still, the wheels didn't really fall off until Dallas' trade deadline deal for Kyrie Irving, who they acquired from Brooklyn for defensive stud Dorian Finney-Smith and combo guard Spencer Dinwiddie. Although Irving himself has been excellent when he's played (27.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists on 63.4 percent True Shooting), Mavs on the whole have collapsed since his arrival, going a putrid 8-16 over that stretch. During Irving's tenure with the team, the Maverickss' defense has imploded. In the 26 games since the trade, the Mavericks have given up 119.8 points per 100 possessions, the equivalent of the third-worst defense in the NBA over the course of the season.

Irving is a free agent this summer and the Mavericks intend to keep him, potentially influencing Mark Cuban's decision to retain Jason Kidd.