The Dallas Mavericks sent shockwaves through both the NBA and college basketball on Monday morning by hiring Dusty May from the University of Michigan as their next head coach. News of May’s hiring was first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania.
May is just months removed from leading Michigan to the 2026 national championship in just his second season as head coach of the Wolverines. In his two seasons in Ann Arbor, May went 64-13. Before coaching at Michigan, May had a successful run at Florida Atlantic, leading the school to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years, including a Final Four appearance in 2023. He is the first college head coach to land 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 top 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 per 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.
While May’s hiring will likely improve the Mavericks from an under-30 winning team, bettors are hesitant to consider the Flagg/May-led Mavs as true NBA contenders. Polymarket bettors are trading the Mavericks The chance of an NBA title in 2027 is only 1%. They are the longest long shots. Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs continue to set the pace for bettors. Each franchise signs up with a 21% chance of securing a title next season. The Celtics are third with 13% and the New York Knicks, fresh off a championshipcome in fourth and 12% of bettors see a repeat for New York.
Will Dallas Mavericks win the 2027 NBA Finals?
May won’t exactly find the job easy. Tuesday marks the start of the NBA’s two-day, two-round NBA Draft and Dallas has both the ninth and 30th pickse selections in round one.
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