Dusty May move just gave Mavericks a huge secret weapon for the NBA Draft

The Dallas Mavericks hired Dusty May on Monday morning to become their next head coach, and one of the most underrated wrinkles of this hire is that he is going to have tons of intel about how the board will fall in the 2026 NBA Draft tomorrow.

May coached Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson Jr. last season at Michigan, and with NBA teams frequently reaching out to college coaches during the pre-draft process, May should quietly have a blueprint for where these players will be drafted. This is a major edge that other teams won't have, as pro teams like to keep their cards close to their chest when it comes to chatting with other teams ahead of the NBA Draft.

The same can't be said as much when teams are talking with college coaches who seemed like long shots to leave their positions. May leaving Michigan for the Mavs' coaching vacancy was an unexpected move, and fans should be ecstatic about how tomorrow night could go.

Dusty May will give the Mavericks crucial draft intel

This gives Dallas a huge advantage, as May will have a good feeling about each player's real range. If the Mavs want to draft Mara, Lendeborg, or Johnson Jr., he'll know how far they will realistically fall, along with what teams may be pursuing them hard.

Even if the Mavs don't want to draft them, May's knowledge of how the draft board will fall should help Dallas significantly. Knowing where players may get drafted is extremely helpful data.

This hire couldn't have come at a better time, as May now has the next day to scheme with Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz about the team's draft plan ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft tomorrow. Dallas desperately needed to hire a head coach before the draft to ensure that he is on the same page as the front office, and that's exactly what they did on Monday.

With May set to officially be part of the organization soon, he should be able to give the Mavericks' new decision-makers plenty of information about where he believes the former Wolverines will go. If Dallas happens to be interested in any of them, this could determine how far they believe they need to trade back to draft them.

He'll also be able to provide Schmitz and Ujiri with top-notch scouting reports on why he believes Dallas should or shouldn't draft each player.

May's Michigan connection could influence a draft-night trade

The Mavericks have already been in several trade-back rumors, and there are even rumbles that they'd like to trade up from the No. 30 overall pick to acquire a more favorable first-round pick, potentially somewhere in the 20s. With Lendeborg and Johnson Jr. poised to be drafted around the middle of the first round, the trade rumors, coupled with the May hire, create an interesting situation for Dallas.

They can now target specific trade-back moves with the ultimate goal of drafting one of the Michigan players. May should know the ballpark that each player is going to get drafted, and the Mavs can use this information to pull off a steal.

Better yet, May being Dallas' new head coach could even influence Mara, Lendeborg, or Johnson Jr.'s camps to force their players' way to the Mavericks. Players' agencies can have a real influence on where they're drafted, and these players' dreams could be to play for their former head coach that led them to the National Championship last season.

May helped Johnson Jr., Mara, and Lendeborg turn into prospects with real potential to get selected in the lottery despite not having the same level of hype before the season, and he would be able to help them grow even more at the NBA level. The idea of one of Mara, Lendeborg, or Johnson Jr. becoming a Maverick is extremely intriguing, especially with May as the team's new coach, and he could be the secret weapon the team needed to pull off a draft-night steal.

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