An assistant coach on Jason Kidd's Dallas Mavericks staff could abandon the team this year, amid plenty of intriguing bench churn.
Per Marc Stein of The Stein Line, assistant coach Jared Dudley could look to move on from the club this summer. He is reportedly in "advanced talks" to take a promotion, moving on to the lead assistant coach role under newly-minted Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman.
Jason Kidd will now have two former NBA head coaches on his Mavs staff next season: Frank Vogel and Jay Triano. Vogel still has three seasons left on his Suns HC deal.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 2, 2025
Denver is in advanced talks to hire Dallas' Jared Dudley to be No. 1 assistant to Nuggets coach David Adelman. https://t.co/a9e9w5MrJH
Dudley was a Day 1 addition to Kidd's staff in Dallas, joining him for the start of the 2021-22 season. With Kidd at the helm and All-NBA First Teamer Luka Doncic anchoring the offense, the Mavericks marched to a pair of Western Conference Finals berths and the 2024 NBA Finals.
The team's head-scratching midseason trade in February of Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a return package topped by 10-time All-Star center Anthony Davis (six years Doncic's senior) seemed to throw even Kidd's future with the Mavericks in doubt — especially when nine-time All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving tore his ACL before the end of the year, dooming Dallas' playoff chances.
The Mavericks were shockingly bailed out of their bizarre decision-making when they stumbled to the No. 1 pick in this summer's draft, which they used on Duke phenom Cooper Flagg, an 18-year-old standout seen by many as a future perennial All-Star. Whether Flagg will ever become the kind of All-NBA elite talent Doncic already is remains to be seen, but at present this is an ill-fitting assembly of pieces in Dallas.
Dudley's new target, Denver, has made a variety of savvy moves already this offseason, trading to acquire forward Cameron Johnson and center Jonas Valanciunas, and signing critical 2023 champ Bruce Brown and swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. to below-market deals.
Already armed with three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and three solid incumbent starters in point guard Jamal Murray, wing Christian Braun and forward Aaron Gordon, Denver looks to challenge the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder for Western Conference supremacy.