Mavericks should hire this coach Cooper Flagg would love after Jason Kidd's exit

After parting ways with Jason Kidd on Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks should consider hiring Duke's Jon Scheyer to replace him and become the team's next head coach. He coached Cooper Flagg during his freshman season before he was drafted by the Mavericks, and this is a move the teenage star would love.

Flagg enjoyed playing for Scheyer during his one season as a Blue Devil, and the two still share a connection. The Mavericks' star admired how honest Scheyer was during his season playing under him and appreciated that he never took it easy on him. Kidd took the same approach while coaching Flagg, as he challenged him immensely and wanted to turn him into a superstar badly. Bringing in a coach with whom Flagg has a proven rapport would be an easy adjustment for him.

Dallas should try to hire Jon Scheyer

Flagg has already been through enough during his first year as a professional basketball player. He was drafted less than a year ago, but he's already had four general managers (Nico Harrison (before he was fired), Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley as the co-interim GMs, and now Mike Schmitz), and the player whom the team acquired in exchange for Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, was traded at last season's deadline.

The team has gone through countless changes around him, and there's no way this has been easy on Flagg. Hiring a familiar face to lead the coaching staff would be an incredible move, and Flagg would likely be a huge fan of it. The NBA is all about keeping your superstar happy, and while Flagg has only spoken positively about Dallas and his potential future as a Maverick, things can change in the blink of an eye.

The Mavericks have to start winning before all else, and doing this, while also bringing in Flagg's former head coach, would be an incredible next move to kick off the Flagg era. Masai Ujiri wants to go in a new direction, and taking a chance on Scheyer would be exactly that.

"As we evaluate the future of our basketball program, we believe this is the right moment for a new direction for our team," Ujiri said in Tuesday's press release. "We have high expectations for this franchise and a responsibility to build a basketball organization capable of sustained championship contention."

Scheyer has had tremendous success at Duke, leading the Blue Devils to four NCAA Tournament appearances during his four seasons with the team. This includes a trip to the Final Four and multiple Sweet 16 appearances. He has a combined 124-25 record over these four years, and only lost seven games over the last two seasons.

This is an impressive resume for a first-time college head coach, and Duke's success over the last few seasons illustrates how great of a job he's done. Scheyer had big shoes to fill when Mike Krzyzewski retired in 2022, and he has done a good job of keeping his legacy alive.

Why Scheyer would be an easy transition for Flagg

The next reasonable step for Scheyer would be to get a promotion to the NBA to coach the best player he's coached so far at Duke. The respect between the two is mutual, and Flagg even went back up to Durham to watch Scheyer and the Blue Devils play during the All-Star break last season.

The history between the two is undeniable, and Ujiri making him the team's next coach would show Flagg just how much he cares about him as he takes over as the team's lead decision-maker this summer. Flagg has never been shy about how much he appreciates his former coach, and giving him some familiarity after a season of uncertainty would certainly please him.

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