Jason Burgos
A new report sheds more light on the very wide net Dallas Mavericks President Masai Ujiri is casting to find his replacement for Jason Kidd.
To the surprise of many, Ujiri ousted Kidd as head coach just two years after leading the team to the NBA Finals. The Hall of Famer had to deal with the massive blowback after they shockingly traded Luka Doncic last year, and navigated through a disappointing 2025-26 campaign where Kyrie Irving missed the entire season, and Anthony Davis was traded away before the deadline.
The next coach will have to build the team back into relevancy from the ground up. No easy task. That is why the Mavs President is reportedly considering all options to replace Kidd. That will surely include veteran NBA head coaches and some of the top assistants in the league.
But according to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the search will also include coaches outside the NBA. A pair of big names Fischer claims are on Ujiri’s interview wish list are two of the best from the college ranks. Duke’s Jon Scheyer and Michigan’s Dusty May.
Yet, they aren’t the only outside-the-box options the Mavericks are considering.
“There is also an expectation in league coaching circles that Ujiri, as he did after the 2022-23 season when he fired Nick Nurse and ultimately replaced Nurse with Darko Rajaković, could well opt to explore his options in both the European and women’s game in a search he is conducting alongside new Mavericks general manager Mike Schmitz.”
– Jake Fischer
If Ujiri were to seriously consider female candidates, current Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon would be a top contender. She has won multiple championships with the Aces and was formerly a well-respected assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs.
Another likely candidate would be South Carolina coach and WNBA veteran, Dawn Staley. She spoke with the New York Knicks during their coaching search last summer.
