Mavericks have perfect opportunity to sabotage Lakers’ plans with JJ Redick

After a thrilling run to the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks are setting their sights on this coming offseason, as Dallas will be knocking on the door to make it back to the Finals next year in a highly competitive Western Conference if they can improve over this summer. Most imminently, the Mavericks will look for ways to improve in this year's NBA Draft, as Dallas is selecting 58th in the NBA Draft this coming Thursday and could potentially make a trade during the draft as well.

Improving through all avenues of the NBA transaction game has been at the forefront of President of Basketball Operations Nico Harrison's agenda since he got to Dallas in 2021, as the Mavericks are no longer a team that only values free agency as a method to improve their roster. While the biggest bombs are yet to drop as far as roster shakeups go for this Mavericks team, they are still trying to improve within the margins during this interim period of the season being over with the NBA Draft still on the horizon.

Teams across the league are filling some of their vacant head coaching positions like wildfire recently, an issue that Dallas luckily doesn't have to deal with after Mavericks Governor Patrick Dumont handed Jason Kidd a new contract extension during the 2024 NBA Playoffs along with giving Nico Harrison a contract extension.

Mavericks can sabotage Lakers’ plans with JJ Redick by re-signing Jared Dudley

These new head coaches across the league come with their own preferences for how they'd like to best curate their assistant coaching staffs though, which has gotten some fans wondering if one of Dallas' assistant coaches would flip to another staff to team up with an old friend.

Specifically, Mavericks' assistant coach Jared Dudley may be getting courted to join newly hired Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick on his staff as an assistant, as Dudley and Redick have strong ties together from their playing days on the LA Clippers during the 2013-14 season.

Marc Stein reported that the Mavericks are "intent" on keeping Dudley's services from Los Angeles though, as Dudley has been extremely well-liked by Mavericks' players and has developed better as an in-game tactician since being in Dallas, something that was especially noticeable when he coached Dallas' Summer League squad last year.

The Mavericks would hate to lose Dudley to the Lakers of all teams, especially after news surfaced that the Detroit Pistons may be interviewing one of the Mavericks' lead assistant coaches in Sean Sweeney for their vacant head coach position. If Sweeney were to leave Dallas this offseason, Dudley would be a prime candidate to replace Sweeney as one of Dallas' lead assistants, a role he's earned after establishing himself as a leader in Dallas' locker room for over three seasons now.

Luckily for Dallas, all signs point toward them derailing the Lakers' plans of potentially signing Dudley to their assistant coaching staff, as the Mavericks are likely keeping Dudley's leadership whilst preventing him from adding to the wealth of basketball knowledge that the Lakers are trying to add to their roster and coaching staff this coming season.

Keeping Dudley would be huge for Dallas, and this would stop the Lakers from signing one of the assistant coaches they are eyeing to make Redick's staff complete.

For more on Jared Dudley and any other news involving the Mavericks this offseason, stay tuned as we will have you covered through it all.