Mavericks Coach Dusty May Challenging Veteran to Expand His Offensive Game

Dusty May has taken over as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks after new team president Masai Ujiri let Jason Kidd go in the offseason.

While it's going to be a learning experience for May as he transitions from a college coach to an NBA coach, he wants his players to grow and be comfortable in his system.

One of the many things May has to figure out with this team is three-point shooting. They were one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA last season, finishing 29th in threes made, 27th in threes attempted, and 26th in three-point percentage.

The Mavericks have taken a few steps towards addressing that, trading for Santi Aldama, Zaccharie Risacher, Marcus Sasser, and Tarik Biberovic. Kyrie Irving returning from injury should help matters, as should a second-year jump from Cooper Flagg.

However, you can never have enough three-point shooting in the NBA, and that's why Dusty May has challenged center Daniel Gafford to take more threes this season.

"We’re just trying to add a little more to his game as far as being a playmaking decision-maker on the perimeter. And also, in our words, he’d be a connector on offense. And then just getting to play more efficiently. He’s going to shoot a few rhythm threes," May revealed after practice on Sunday. "He’s going to rim protect. We’ve got to get him a little bit better at switching on the smaller players, but he has a lot of ways that he can help this team.”

Mar 21, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Daniel Gafford (21) tries to keep his balance as he runs out of bounds during the second half against the LA Clippers at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Curious Decision, But Nothing New for Dusty May

Dusty May puts a lot of faith and trust in his players to expand their games.

During his last season at Michigan, he had big men Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr., who transferred in from other schools.

Mara is a towering center at 7'3" and attempted no threes in his first two seasons at UCLA, then transferred to Michigan and took ten.

Morez Johnson Jr. didn't attempt any threes in his freshman season at Illinois, then took 35 in his sophomore season at Michigan.

Gafford has only attempted one three-pointer in his seven seasons in the NBA and has been just a 67.4% free-throw shooter for his career, but May wants to find ways to open up the offense for Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg.

We've always heard about Dereck Lively II possibly shooting threes, but he's still recovering from foot surgery in December.

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