Luka Doncic's Mavs 'Favorite' to Hire Ex-Lakers Coach Frank Vogel
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DALLAS — Following the departure of assistant coach Greg St. Jean, the Dallas Mavericks have yet to fill the void, but have sought to replace him with an experienced coach to bolster Jason Kidd's staff.
According to Marc Stein, the Mavs are considered the "favorites" to hire former Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel as he begins to give consideration to taking an assistant coaching job for the 2023-24 season.
"Dallas is regarded as the favorite to land him in the event Vogel begins to consider assistant coaching positions for next season," Stein wrote.
While serving as an assistant for Vogel with the Lakers for two seasons — including a championship run in 2020 during the NBA Bubble — the two became close. With so many high profile coaches available for teams to hire, the outlook for Vogel to land a favorable opening has diminished.
Kidd has often credited his time serving on Vogel's coaching staff as having prepared him for his opportunity with the Mavs. Kidd specifically credited Vogel early in his Mavs coaching tenure for his use of switching at the veer line on defense within their scheme.
"Frank Vogel prepared me for this and then also my early stops in Brooklyn and Milwaukee," Kidd said after Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinals. "Just understanding, putting guys in a position to be successful and then also listening to your star player; he wants to have fun, so let’s have fun."
"And the accountability piece, those are the words that we talked about this season, and that’s what we hold each other accountable," Kidd explained. "It’s those words that we came up with and no one’s exempt from them. There’s a lot of things I’ve learned in the last couple of years about coaching, but you have to have talent, too, to win and that’s what I have here in Dallas.”
It's worth noting, Vogel was among the coaches to attend Mavs training camp in September and was often observing with general manager Nico Harrison and Kidd.
Previous reporting suggested that had Kidd not joined the Mavs to take over as their head coach, the Lakers likely would have made a coaching change to fire Vogel sooner — making Kidd their next head coach. Vogel joining Kidd's staff would be an interesting outcome considering all that has transpired.
Between his coaching stint with the Indiana Pacers and his time with the Lakers, Vogel has solidified himself as one of the premier basketball minds for coaching NBA defense. For a Mavs team that sorely struggled in this department — giving up 117.1 points per 100 possessions (25th) — he could be beneficial in that regard.
As far as limitations are concerned, Vogel's half-court offenses have typically underachieved. With St. Jean having been more responsible for the Mavs' offense while Sean Sweeney led the defense, there would still be a void in that regard.
Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).
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