Dallas Mavericks instant grade for Dusty May’s stunning hire as team’s next head coach

Jun 22, 2026 - 18:30

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 06: Head coach Dusty May of the Michigan Wolverines cuts down the net after defeating the UConn Huskies 69-63 in the National Championship of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 06, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Dusty May just led the Michigan Wolverines to one of the most dominant national championship runs in the recent history of men’s college basketball. Now he’s ready for his next step after making a stunning decision to jump to the NBA on Monday afternoon.

The Dallas Mavericks have hired May as the franchise’s next head coach in a move that sends shockwaves around both college and pro hoops. The Mavs lured May away from Ann Arbor with the chance to coach Cooper Flagg at the start of his career. Dallas also has the No. 9 and No. 30 overall picks in the 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday, and three Wolverines players are expected to be lottery picks in Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson.

May is 49 years old, and felt destined to be one of college basketball’s top coaches for the next 15 years. This is a major first move from the Mavs’ new braintrust of Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz. Ujiri built the Toronto Raptors 2019 championship team, and was hired as Dallas’ new president earlier this offseason. Schmitz came over from the Portland Trail Blazers to be the team’s new GM after building his reputation as a razor-sharp draft analyst for ESPN.

May built an incredible Michigan team through the transfer portal by bringing together three de facto bigs and teaching them to play together. His teams are typically slightly better on the defensive end of the floor. Michigan finished with the No. 1 defense in America this year, as well as the No. 4 offense. It will be fascinating to see if he continues to lean into supersized lineups in the NBA.

The real intrigue for May is the opportunity to coach Flagg, who just won NBA Rookie of the Year. Flagg is perhaps the best young building block in the NBA after Victor Wembanyama, and he doesn’t even turn 20 years old until December. The Mavs are building around Flagg, and May will be the person leading his development.

May has a cool and calm demeanor that resonates well with players, and should continue to work in the NBA. He deserves to be seen as a great developmental coach after turning Lendeborg, Johnson, and Mara into lottery picks this past season when none of them were projected in that range at the start of the year. It feels like he has the ideal mentality to be an NBA coach, but life is always tough in the Western Conference, even with Cooper Flagg on your side.

The history of college coaches jumping to the NBA is a mixed bag. Larry Brown won a national championship at Kansas in 1988, and then won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Brad Stevens took Butler to the title game in college basketball before becoming a fantastic head coach (and later lead executive) for the Boston Celtics. Billy Donovan won two national championships at Florida, and then jumped to the NBA where he had a solid pro career but never won a championship. There are also some busts, like John Calipari and Rick Pitino, who made the leap to the NBA and then went back to college after failing.

I followed Michigan during its national championship at the Big Ten tournament, Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, and Final Four and national championship. I came away so impressed with May in terms of his leadership, demeanor, and schematic ability. May knew he was likely never going to have another team as good as his 2026 group again. Building through the transfer portal and fundraising NIL dollars every year is incredibly stressful. I can absolutely see the appeal of this move to the NBA for both sides.

In the end, this is about the opportunity to coach Cooper Flagg, who is already excellent at 19 years old. The Mavs also reportedly considered Duke coach Jon Scheyer and some former NBA coaches like Terry Stotts, but May offers the most upside to me because of his youth and pedigree. The Mavs swung for the fences with their first big decision of the Ujiri era, and I think they hit it out of the park.

NBA success is far from guaranteed for May. It’s going to be a big adjustment to leap to the pros. The Mavs don’t need to win right away, though. They’re on Flagg’s timeline. May can grow alongside Flagg, and I think he has the smarts and the temperament for the job long-term. What a move by the Mavs.