Why the Dallas Mavericks were the biggest losers in Lakers' JJ Redick hiring

The Dallas Mavericks' incredible postseason run officially ended on Monday night, as they lost Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics. Dallas fought hard in this series, and blew out the Celtics by nearly 40 points in Game 4, but Boston was just too much for Dallas.

No one consistently stepped up outside of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and now Dallas will go back to the drawing board ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft.

Dallas has the chance to get better in less than a week, and one of Dallas' Western Conference rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, got better today as they signed JJ Redick to a four-year deal to become their next head coach.

Why the Dallas Mavericks were the biggest losers in Lakers' JJ Redick hiring

Redick and LeBron James are great friends, and the Lakers got their guy after missing out on Dan Hurley. Redick has just under a week to prepare for the 2024 NBA Draft, and the Lakers have the No. 17 and No. 55 picks in this year's draft to improve their roster.

Dallas has the No. 58 overall pick, three picks after the Lakers, and a player they have reportedly been targetting is Bronny James. There have been some rumors that Dallas could even trade up ahead of the Lakers to draft Bronny, but with this JJ Redick news, the Mavs may be the biggest losers of this signing.

With Redick being signed by the Lakers, it's even more of an incentive for LeBron to stay in Los Angeles. It already seemed extremely likely that LeBron was going to stay, and this Redick hiring likely increases that possibility even more.

If the Mavs are able to draft Bronny, it could give them a great recruiting strategy to lure LeBron to Dallas, but now LeBron has his guy as his head coach in Los Angeles. LeBron isn't locked in on teaming up with his son, but teaming up with his son and Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving may be something that he can't turn down.

Another situation to keep an eye on if you're a Mavs fan regarding the Lakers' hiring of Redick is if they pursue Mavs assistant coach Jared Dudley. Dudley played two seasons for the Lakers, and according to NBA insider Shams Charania, Dudley is one of the assistant coach candidates (subscription required) who could join Redick's staff in Los Angeles.

Losing Dudley would be a huge blow for Dallas, as he is one of the best assistant coaches in the NBA, and the Mavs may have to pay a pretty penny if they want to keep him.

Having Dallas' chances of landing Bronny and having a chance at getting LeBron definitely went down with the Redick hiring, and potentially having Dudley poached from them is not a good combination. It's not like LeBron to Dallas was ever anything more than a pipe dream, but this Redick hiring could have a bigger impact on the Mavs than most people realize.

Especially if the Lakers sign Dudley to their coaching staff.

For all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks this offseason, stay tuned.