Mavericks Make Big Splash, Hire Reigning College Champion as Next Head Coach

The Dallas Mavericks went more than a month without a head coach, as they dismissed Jason Kidd late into the process. And just a day before the 2026 NBA Draft, the Mavericks have made a huge gamble, as ESPN's Shams Charania announced that they'd be hiring Dusty May, the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, to be their next coach.

It had been reported multiple times that the Mavericks were trying to convince either Dusty May or Duke's Jon Scheyer to leave college and join the NBA, but it felt unrealistic. After all, May just won a national championship in his second season at Michigan, and had just signed a five-year, $25.5 million contract extension last year, and apparently had agreed to a new deal this offseason, but it was never signed.

The Mavericks paid Jason Kidd more than $40 million to go away, and likely paid a hefty price to get May in the building now.

This has been a meteoric rise for Dusty May, and this will be his first opportunity in the NBA. He had been an assistant in college basketball for a long time, starting with Eastern Michigan in 2005, but also working with Murray State (2006-07), UAB (2007-09), Louisiana Tech (2009-2015), and Florida (2015-18). His stop at Florida gave him access to his first head coaching job in 2018 at Florida Atlantic, where he led the school to its first and only Final Four appearance in 2023.

After a very successful tenure at FAU, he left for Michigan, one of college basketball's biggest brands, and instantly turned them around, winning a national championship in just his second season.

This was a quiet process for the Mavericks, but they ended up getting one of the biggest names possible just one day ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft. This hire also is out of Masai Ujiri's normal comfort zone, as his two previous hires both were assistant coaches in the NBA.

Michigan head coach Dusty May looks on from the court ahead of the NCAA national championship game against Connecticut at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Monday, April 6, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Could Hiring Dusty May Impact Draft Plans?

The Mavericks currently hold the 9th, 30th, and 48th picks in this week's draft, and Michigan happens to have three very talented players projected to go in the first round: Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson.

Dallas needs backcourt help more than anything, but if they were to trade P.J. Washington, Naji Marshall, and/or Daniel Gafford, that could open the gates to draft one of May's star frontcourt players, especially if they execute a trade down with either the OKC Thunder or the Charlotte Hornets to accumulate more picks.

With May just now getting in the building, it's unclear how much say he'll have in the draft.

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