The Dallas Mavericks are just two days away from the first day of the 2025 NBA Draft, as they'll officially cash in their winning lottery ticket by selecting Cooper Flagg No. 1 overall. After the Mavericks simply couldn't catch a break from the moment they traded Luka Doncic to the second they fell short against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Play-In Tournament, the vibes have been shifting upward for the Mavericks recently, barring a brief Jason Kidd debacle which included the New York Knicks trying to hire him to become their next head coach.
That was until yesterday, as it was announced Dallas Mavericks lead assistant Sean Sweeney will be accepting a position as associate head coach of the San Antonio Spurs under Mitch Johnson. Sweeney is notorious for coordinating Dallas' defensive schemes and has been one of Kidd's right-hand mans at all of Kidd's coaching stops, so while there are some bright minds on the coaching market right now and Dallas has a few other assistants they could promote from within, they'll need to pick carefully to find a strong lead consultant to Kidd like Sweeney was.
After Sweeney got deep into the interview process with the Phoenix Suns in regards to their recently vacant head coaching job, it seemed like only a matter of time that he'd get a better opportunity elsewhere, but Mavericks fans were certainly hopeful he'd return and get to help mentor Flagg after every head coaching vacancy in the league has been filled barring the Knicks' job. It seems like the Nico Harrison and company could've potentially given Sweeney more money and an elevated title just as the Spurs did, though, as Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News posted on X that one of his sources said, "Sweeney didn't want to leave and Mavs just didn't do enough to keep him."
Harrison let the Spurs steal an elite Mavericks coach he could've kept
Townsend later posted that another one of his Mavericks sources contradicted that original report, but with nothing essentially being confirmed, there's a decent chance the original report was right and the Mavericks didn't do enough financially or figuratively to keep Sweeney. Townsend also later reported that Sweeney viewed the Spurs job as increased responsibility, as Kidd is an established head coach given his acumen, and Sweeney will probably have a bigger voice in the Spurs' locker room compared to Dallas'.
It's hard to nail Sweeney's exact reason for leaving Dallas given the range of reports from Townsend here, but if Harrison and the Mavericks could've done more to keep Sweeney they certainly should've, as he's been great at developing young players and helping them fine-tune their skills on both ends, something that would've been great to roll into the Flagg era with for the Mavericks.
If this is another case of Harrison being stubborn and thinking he can replace a coveted Mavs' staffer with someone that he selects personally, then Mavericks fans may need to brace themselves for who Dallas' next assistant is given what happened with their medical staff this past season, but that can't be guaranteed given the conflicting reporting from Townsend in regards to Sweeney's true motives for leaving the Mavericks.
Regardless if Harrison could've made a better financial play or have given him an elevated title, Sweeney has been interviewing for multiple head coaching positions and was going to be gone sooner rather than later, so while this was a crushing blow for Dallas, it was expected to a certain extent and Harrison and Dallas' upper brass will be judged by how they fill out the rest of their coaching staff this offseason in an effort to replace Sweeney.
Flagg coming to Dallas will help weather the storm, but Sweeney leaving for a division rival after being so successful with the Mavericks combined with Kidd's rumored interest to join the Knicks' coaching staff screams that not everything is going right for the Mavericks right now, and Harrison must have a stellar offseason to put Dallas in the best possible spot to contend.
