Mavs Plan to Hire 76ers Coach to Jason Kidd's Staff

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks had a significant amount of vacancies to fill on Jason Kidd's coaching staff this offseason. After parting ways with lead assistant Greg St. Jean, shooting coach Peter Patton, and assistant Quinton Crawford, there were three major spots the Mavs had to fill.

Initially, the Mavs hired former Utah Jazz assistant Alex Jensen and former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Josh Broghamer as assistant coaches, then planned to hire Bryan Gates before he reneged on his commitment to instead join the Philadelphia 76ers' coaching staff.

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the Mavs plan to hire Eric Hughes in an assistant coach role to join Jason Kidd's staff. He was a member of the Sixers' coaching staff for each of the previous four seasons.

Sources: Mavs plan to hire Eric Hughes as an assistant coach. Hughes, who spent the last four seasons with the 76ers, was on Jason Kidd’s staffs in Brooklyn and Milwaukee.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) July 28, 2023

Hughes previously served on Kidd's coaching staff during their time with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. He joined Brett Brown's coaching staff with the Sixers in 2019 in a player development role before being promoted to assistant coach by Rivers when he took over in 2021.

After a 38-44 season, the Mavs face a major need to pull off a strong bounce back campaign in 2023-24. With two superstars in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the expectations are high for Dallas in the Western Conference next season.

The Mavs did add talent to bolster the roster around Doncic and Irving as the front office had set out to achieve. It began by adding Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper using the NBA Draft, while also acquiring Richaun Holmes in a draft night trade with the Sacramento Kings. Using free agency, the Mavs acquired veteran talents such as Grant Williams and Seth Curry, along with taking a flier on Dante Exum in his return to the NBA.

Given the Mavs ranked 25th in defensive rating and 30th in total rebounding percentage last season, the rumblings of the organization seeking to add a veteran center ahead of the season remain something to monitor. In the short-term future, Lively is expected to be slowly brought along as he develops.

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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