Dallas Mavericks' potential coaching candidate shockingly let go by ESPN

The Dallas Mavericks are hours away from having their first free agent meetings. The Mavs are set to meet with Bruce Brown and Kyrie Irving and need to nail the latter as they gave up a haul to land Irving.

Irving is expected to re-sign with the Mavericks, but Dallas is expected to "show restraint" when negotiating with the star point guard. They will look to find a fair price for Irving that also allows them to have some flexibility in free agency.

Something that has flown under the radar but is still relevant is the Mavericks' assistant coach search.

Dallas Mavericks' potential coaching candidate shockingly let go by ESPN

They are looking for a veteran coach to join the coaching staff as Greg St. Jean will not return next season. Dallas was rumored to want to add Frank Vogel to Jason Kidd's staff, but since decided to head to Phoenix to coach the Suns.

Potential options are falling off the board for the Mavericks left and right, but one potential suitor could have just become a much easier signing than before.

Jeff Van Gundy was rumored as someone the Mavs could sign to be an assistant coach earlier this month, but that would have required him to step away from the microphone, and he wasn't showing any signs that he was going to do so. But things changed on Friday morning.

Andrew Marchand and Ryan Glassipiegel of the New York Post reported that ESPN was laying off Van Gundy along with Jalen Rose and several others. This news was shocking as Van Gundy was widely known as one of the best analysts on air. He called countless NBA Finals games and was widely known across the NBA world.

Now the Mavericks can pursue Van Gundy without him having to quit his job with ESPN as he was laid off. He won 430 regular season games as a head coach in the NBA and 44 playoff games. Van Gundy has also been part of Team USA's coaching staff, and his impressive resume, combined with his keen basketball mind, would make him a great fit in Dallas. He could help them get back to playing sound defense and support Kidd in helping this team return to being a contender.

Stay tuned to see if Van Gundy decides to go back to coaching and if the Mavericks can land him. It will be an offseason full of news, and we'll have you covered.