Less than three weeks after taking the reins as team president, Masai Ujiri made his biggest move yet – parting ways with head coach Jason Kidd, the man who helped guide Dallas to the NBA Finals just two years ago.
Now the Mavericks are hunting for the coach who will help transform Cooper Flagg from Rookie of the Year into a bona fide superstar.
Ujiri was quick to make one thing clear: this search will be thorough, and he’s playing the long game.
“Every decision we are going to make here is going to be future-based,” Ujiri said during a press conference on Wednesday, per NBA.com. “We have a 19-year-old generational player on our roster (Cooper Flagg). We have to think that way. So we’re not going to make decisions based on winning today. I don’t think that would make sense for the organization. We’re looking at it like: what is our future going to look like? What is winning going to look like?”
The other question isn’t just who is available, but who can build a winning culture around a 19-year-old franchise player while keeping Kyrie Irving’s twilight years competitive.
Here’s a look at some names worth watching as this process heats up:
Sean Sweeney – The Odds-On Favorite
The betting odds, per BetOnline, and league whispers are telling the same story – Sweeney is the frontrunner.
The San Antonio Spurs’ associate head coach spent four seasons as an assistant on Kidd’s staff in Dallas before heading south, and his fingerprints were all over the Mavericks’ dominant defense during their 2023-24 Finals run.
This season in San Antonio, he oversaw the league’s third-ranked defense while helping the team — led by superstar Victor Wembanyama — improve dramatically from the previous year’s poor defensive ranking and reach the Western Conference Finals.
At 41 years old, Sweeney already has the respect of front offices across the league. He knows this roster’s DNA. He knows what the American Airlines Center crowd demands. The familiarity factor cuts both ways – some executives prefer a clean break – but in this case, continuity on the defensive end could be exactly what the Mavericks need.
The catch? There is competition. Multiple teams are circling the waters, and Dallas will need to move fast once San Antonio’s season ends.
Billy Donovan – Experienced but Fading
Donovan won two national championships at Florida and spent over a decade as an NBA head coach with Oklahoma City and Chicago. His tenure with the Bulls never quite reached the heights many expected, and he’s currently viewed as a stronger fit for the Orlando Magic’s opening than Dallas. Still, his experience and winning pedigree keep him in any serious coaching conversation.
Frank Vogel – Already in the Building
Here’s the wildcard: Vogel spent this past season as an assistant on Kidd’s own staff in Dallas, meaning he knows the roster intimately and wouldn’t need a transition period to get up to speed.
The 2020 NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers has head-coaching experience with five franchises. His most recent head coaching stint in Phoenix lasted just one season, but his overall résumé – built on suffocating defensive systems – aligns perfectly with what Ujiri typically prioritizes. The Mavericks wouldn’t be hiring a project; they’d be hiring a proven commodity who is already embedded in the organization.
The knock on Vogel is his ceiling. He’s more stabilizer than transformer. But for a team trying to fast-track Flagg’s development while staying competitive with Irving, stability might be exactly the point.
Jon Scheyer – The Cooper Flagg Connection
Scheyer is a long shot given his deep commitment to Duke, where he’s compiled a 124-25 record in four seasons. But he recruited and coached Flagg during his one college season in Durham, and that relationship matters. Three of Dallas’s best players — Flagg, Kyrie Irving, and Dereck Lively II — are Duke alums. The fit is compelling even if the probability is low.
Steve Nash – The Sentimental Pick, And Former MVP
Yes, Nash’s last head coaching stint in Brooklyn ended badly — front office chaos, a roster that never fit, a situation almost any coach would have struggled with. But the two-time MVP remains one of the most celebrated basketball minds alive. For a franchise trying to build around a 6-foot-9 forward who can do everything, Nash’s player development pedigree and offensive innovation could be exactly what Flagg needs to reach the next level.
Oddsmakers have Nash in the mix at least, with BetOnline listing him at +650, which means league insiders haven’t counted him out. His connection to the modern “positionless” game – and his history with players around the league – might fit a Kyrie Irving dynamic better than anyone expects.
Nick Nurse – The Ujiri Factor
This is a name that should have every Mavericks fan paying attention. Nurse won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019 – the same organization Ujiri ran. Their relationship runs deep, and Ujiri’s track record strongly suggests he values coaches he already knows and trusts.
Now in his third season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Nurse has weathered a brutal stretch of injuries and roster dysfunction before guiding Philly to a clutch run this postseason — knocking out Boston after coming back from 3-1 down — before ultimately getting swept by the Knicks in the second round. The 76ers retained him, meaning Dallas would need permission to even speak with him.
His defensive creativity, ability to adapt systems mid-series, and championship pedigree make him one of the most accomplished names in this search. If Ujiri goes with a known commodity rather than a first-timer, Nurse is the most logical choice by a wide margin. Don’t let the retained status fool you – at 3/1, the market is treating this as a genuine possibility.
Tiago Splitter – The Dark Horse with Connections
Splitter’s name might raise eyebrows, but his résumé is nothing to bat an eye at. After seven years playing for teams across the league — including a championship with San Antonio in 2014 — the Brazilian took over the Portland Trail Blazers as interim head coach this past October under unusual circumstances when Chauncey Billups was indicted in a federal gambling investigation, as previously reported by DX.
Splitter led Portland to a 42-40 record, the team’s first winning season in five years, before bowing out in the first round against the Spurs. He also has a direct front-office connection in Dallas: newly hired General Manager Mike Schmitz worked alongside Splitter in Portland, where Schmitz spent four years as assistant GM. That relationship could carry weight as Ujiri and Schmitz collaborate on this coaching search together.
Other Contenders
Tom Thibodeau (10/1 odds per BetOnline) brings a lifetime .579 winning percentage and two Coach of the Year awards, but has worn out his welcome at multiple stops. Mike Malone (16/1), who won a title in Denver with Nikola Jokić, could be a name to watch if Dallas wants proven championship experience.
What Ujiri Is Really Looking For
If history is any guide, don’t expect a splashy hire. Ujiri’s coaching picks in Toronto – Nick Nurse and Darko Rajaković – weren’t household names when he chose them.
Dallas holds the No. 9 pick in the June 23 draft and will want someone in place before that process heats up.
