Where The Pressure Lands
The Dallas Mavericks are making progress in their coaching hunt after parting ways with Jason Kidd in May. They have Cooper Flagg, the reigning Rookie of the Year, two first-round picks in the upcoming draft, and a roster full of useful players. For any coach looking for a fresh start, the job has real appeal.
Masai Ujiri is now team president, with Mike Schmitz running the front office. Together, they are trying to close the book on a rough 16-month stretch that began with the Luka Doncic trade in February 2025. The Mavericks eventually fired the general manager who made that call, Nico Harrison, then moved Anthony Davis out of town and changed coaches. Somewhere in the chaos, Dallas landed the No. 1 pick in the 2025 Draft and grabbed Flagg, a player who looks like the kind of talent you build around.
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
The next coach will need to nurture Flagg's growth and get this team pointing toward real competition again. Marc Stein reports Dallas expects to visit with more than a dozen candidates before settling on the right fit.
Two college names surfaced almost as soon as Kidd left. Jon Scheyer coached Flagg for one season at Duke, the year the Blue Devils reached the Final Four. Stein says the Mavericks have had exploratory talks with Scheyer to see if he might listen, though it's fair to wonder whether he'd walk away from what might be the best college job in the country. Duke returns four of its top six scorers and added several portal pickups, sitting No. 2 in the latest CBS rankings. The Blue Devils will contend for a title next year, and that's not an easy spot to leave.
Dallas also reached out to Dusty May at Michigan, fresh off a national championship. The odds of either leaving their current posts are low, but you check anyway.
The Detail That Tilts It
With both candidates, there's a real gamble that college success doesn't translate to the NBA. Then again, expectations in Dallas won't be sky-high early on. That could make the job appealing for a coach willing to grow with Flagg.
A more predictable route might be hiring one of the league's experienced assistants. The Mavericks already contacted Sean Sweeney, who worked under Kidd, but he took the Orlando Magic job instead.
Micah Nori of the Timberwolves keeps coming up in coaching cycles. He's a defensive-minded coach who could raise Dallas's level on that end. Giving him a talent like Flagg to develop would be worth watching; the Rookie of the Year has already shown flashes of an All-Defensive-caliber game.
Other names on the list: Royal Ivey from the Houston Rockets, Jama Mahlalela from the Raptors, Tony Dobbins from the Celtics, and Noah LaRoche as a Miami Heat consultant. Ivey served under Billy Donovan in OKC, David Fizdale in New York, and Steve Nash in Brooklyn. He's been South Sudan's national team head coach since 2021. Under his leadership, South Sudan reached the AfroBasket 2021 quarterfinals, earned a 2023 World Cup berth, and made the country's first Olympic appearance in 2024. Ivey has worked with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, and spent time in Brooklyn when Kyrie Irving was there, so there's familiarity with star guards.
Mahlalela has been around the Raptors organization since 2006, starting in community development, joining the coaching staff in 2013, and leading the G League affiliate in 2018. He spent two seasons as an assistant under Steve Kerr with the Warriors from 2021 to 2023, during their 2022 championship run, then returned to Toronto in 2023. The connection to Ujiri is obvious from their shared time in Toronto.
What The Result Leaves
Dobbins began coaching in 2020 with the Celtics after a 13-year professional career mostly overseas. His resume is brief but he's moved quickly in Boston as a defensive-focused coach. He ran the Celtics summer league team in 2023 and helped Jayson Tatum recover from an Achilles tear last season. Tatum said publicly, "I can't thank him enough for his selflessness and just really being engaged with me every single day." Jaylen Brown has also praised Dobbins, noting his focus on managing emotions. "Managing the emotions of the game is what he speaks to a lot, because the better players can manage their stress levels and their emotions during the game, so that they can see the game clearly," Brown said in February.
LaRoche briefly assisted Taylor Jenkins in Memphis before the Grizzlies cleared out their coaching staff in 2025. Miami brought him in this season as a consultant to reshape the Heat's offense. He's worked with various NBA players in the offseason as a trainer, and Erik Spoelstra called him an "innovative coaching mind." That's meaningful praise from one of the league's most respected coaches. LaRoche installed a freer, uptempo style in Memphis and did the same in Miami. Dallas could use that approach with Flagg, who thrives getting downhill and playing in transition.
Here's the tension the Mavericks face: go with a college-to-pros gamble or stick with someone who already knows the NBA game. Scheyer and May bring proven track records at the college level, but the jump isn't guaranteed to work. Nori, Dobbins, and the rest come from organizations where they've helped develop real players. For a team with Flagg already in place, that practical experience might matter more than a famous name.