The Dallas Mavericks sent shockwaves through both the NBA and college basketball on Monday morning by hiring University of Michigan’s Dusty May as their next head coach. News of May’s hiring was first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania.
May is just months away from leading Michigan to the 2026 national championship in just his second season as the Wolverines’ head coach. In his two seasons in Ann Arbor, May went 64-13. Prior to coaching at Michigan, he had a successful run with Florida Atlantic, leading the school to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years, including a Final Four appearance in 2023. He is the first college head coach to jump to a head job in the NBA since 2019, when another Michigan coach, John Beilen, joined the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Now May heads to Dallas, where he inherits a budding superstar in Cooper Flagg, the overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. In his rookie season, Flagg was named the league’s Rookie of the Year after averaging 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals a game. Despite Flagg’s success, Dallas struggled with a record of 26 wins and 56 losses. When the season ended, Dallas parted ways with head coach Jason Kidd, who coached the Mavs for five seasons and led them to an NBA Finals appearance in 2024.
Although May’s hiring appears to improve the Mavericks from a sub-30 win team, punters are hesitant to consider the Flagg/May-led Mavs true NBA contenders. Polymarket punters trade Mavericks chances of a 2027 NBA title of only 1%. They are the longest by a long shot. Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs continue to set the pace for players. Each franchise checks in with a 21% chance of securing a title next season. The Celtics are third with 13% and the New York Knicks, fresh off a championshipcomes in fourth with 12% of punters seeing a repeat for New York.
Will the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Finals in 2027?
May will not exactly ease into the job. Tuesday marks the start of the NBA’s two-day, two-round NBA Draft, and Dallas has both the ninth and 30th picks.th first round pick.
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