DHJ Quick Take: Mavericks Hiring Dusty May as Head Coach
The Dallas Mavericks are hiring Michigan’s Dusty May as head coach, sources told Dallas Hoops Journal, pairing the reigning national champion with Cooper Flagg one day before the 2026 NBA Draft.
- Who is the Mavericks’ new head coach? Dusty May, who led Michigan to the 2026 national title, is taking over in Dallas.
- Who does Dusty May replace? He replaces Jason Kidd, who was dismissed on May 19 after a 26-56 season.
- Why did Dusty May take the job? The chance to coach 2025-26 Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg was a central factor, sources said.
- When does the hire become official? Dallas is expected to finalize the move before the 2026 NBA Draft opens Tuesday.
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks are hiring Dusty May as their next head coach, sources told Dallas Hoops Journal, a college-to-NBA move that puts the reigning national champion in charge of Cooper Flagg and the next era of the franchise. The move was first reported by ESPN.
May, 49, leaves Michigan less than three months after guiding the Wolverines to the 2026 national title, the program’s first championship since 1989. He replaces Jason Kidd, whom Dallas dismissed on May 19 following a 26-56 season, and he becomes the first college head coach to take an NBA job since John Beilein left Michigan for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019.
The hire arrives one day before the 2026 NBA Draft, which opens Tuesday, with Dallas holding the No. 9, No. 30, and No. 48 picks.
A College-to-NBA Leap Built Around Cooper Flagg
May inherits a roster centered on Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year. Flagg averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.2 steals as a rookie and projects as the foundation of a rebuild overseen by team president Masai Ujiri, who took over basketball operations after the season.
The opportunity to coach Flagg factored heavily into May’s decision to leave the college game, sources said.
During the 2025-26 college season, Dallas Hoops Journal learned from sources that multiple NBA teams had already expressed interest in hiring May. However, while many viewed him as a coach who would likely make the leap to the NBA in the future, some were skeptical it would be before the 2026-27 season.
Dusty May’s Rapid Rise
May went 64-13 over two seasons at Michigan after inheriting a program that had finished 8-24 the year before his arrival. He won the 2026 national championship by beating Connecticut at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, capping a season in which the Wolverines set a program record with 37 wins.
He built his reputation at Florida Atlantic, where he led the Owls to the 2023 Final Four as a No. 9 seed before falling to San Diego State by 1 point. Over his final four college seasons as a head coach, May went 124-26. He climbed through the assistant ranks at Eastern Michigan, Murray State, UAB, Louisiana Tech, and Florida before taking the Florida Atlantic job in 2018.
May is the first coach to leave for the NBA immediately after winning an NCAA title since Larry Brown did so at Kansas in 1988. Billy Donovan, who left Florida for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015, was the most recent national champion to make the move.
What the Move Means for the Dallas Mavericks
Kidd will earn over $40 million as part of his departure, according to sources, and now turns to a first-time NBA head coach to steady a roster that won 26 games a year ago. The hire is the first for Ujiri since he assumed control of the front office this offseason.
The Mavericks interviewed a broad field that included Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Houston Rockets assistant Royal Ivey, Toronto Raptors assistant Jama Mahlalela, Boston Celtics assistant Tony Dobbins, and former head coach Terry Stotts, and they pursued Duke’s Jon Scheyer before landing May.
Dallas is expected to formalize the hire before the draft opens Tuesday.
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