Dusty May’s First Mavs Staff Could Include Two Former Head Coaches

Dusty May hasn’t coached a single NBA game yet, but his bench is starting to look like a reunion of guys who’ve run their own teams. According to reports from Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, the new Dallas Mavericks head coach is targeting Willie Green and Adrian Griffin as assistant coaches for his inaugural staff.

Green spent four seasons as the head coach in New Orleans, taking the Pelicans to the playoffs in 2022 after they won the Play-In Tournament. His teams were competitive even when injuries piled up — New Orleans went 42-40 in 2022-23 despite missing key guys for long stretches. But the Pelicans stumbled badly to open the 2025-26 season, going 2-10, and Green was fired in November 2025.

Griffin’s head coaching tenure was shorter but weirdly successful on paper. He took over the Bucks in 2023-24, the first season Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard played together, and Milwaukee went 30-13 through 43 games. Then the Bucks abruptly fired him anyway. No obvious on-court reason. Just a front office decision that still confuses people around the league.

Both guys have been wanted elsewhere. Green was being pursued by Golden State to rejoin Steve Kerr’s staff as an assistant, according to Stein. That interest from Dallas might pull him away from a familiar situation. Griffin has been mentioned as a candidate for May’s bench alongside Noah LaRoche, who currently works as a consultant for the Miami Heat.

May is making the jump from college ball to the NBA after a successful run at Florida Atlantic, including a Final Four appearance in 2023. Building a staff with real NBA experience matters when you’re a first-time pro head coach. Green and Griffin have that. They’ve run practices. They’ve managed egos. They’ve dealt with the grind of an 82-game season. May hasn’t done any of that yet.

The Mavericks are trying to climb back into serious Western Conference contention. They’ve got Luka Doncic, obviously, but the roster around him needs work. May’s ability to adjust to the pro game quickly could depend heavily on who’s sitting next to him on the bench. If Green and Griffin both sign on, that’s two guys who know what it takes to win at this level and two guys who know what it’s like to get fired when you don’t.