<\/p>\n
Dallas Mavericks team president Masai Ujiri speaks about coach Jason Kidd\u2019s departure during a press conference at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Wednesday, May 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Masai Ujiri didn\u2019t come out and shout it. He didn\u2019t even whisper it like his predecessor did 14 months ago<\/a> in a determined but wildly failed effort to justify his trade of Luka to the Lakers. But the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> are all in on this now.<\/p>\n Defense wins championships.<\/p>\n It has absolutely nothing to do with trying to prove\u00a0Nico Harrison correct. The mantra doesn\u2019t really work if the man you have selected to guard the basket is busy with his hidden camera prank show<\/a> because he\u2019s too hobbled to get on the basketball floor. It has plenty to do with what everyone just witnessed in this spring\u2019s Western Conference finals<\/a>, a seven-game series that came with a disturbing disclaimer that read: THESE TWO TEAMS ARE HERE TO STAY.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Oklahoma City plays night after night with the most intense devotion to defense in the\u00a0NBA. If you want to translate that into \u201cthe Thunder grabs a lot,\u201d be my guest, but it still works. San Antonio comes with not just great young perimeter defense but the ultimate rim protector in Victor Wembanyama. Yes, any and all rivals \u2014 including Dallas \u2014 must find ways to score against these teams, but the emphasis on defense and what works in the playoffs cannot be overlooked.<\/p>\n Along with that, the champion New York\u00a0Knicks locked people down for long stretches, but I\u2019m trying to avoid the Knicks subject here because that requires one to type the name \u2018Jalen Brunson\u2019 which conjures up all sorts of bad memories<\/a> about his Dallas exit.<\/p>\n Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont, having taken the early missteps of trusting in\u00a0Nico, has made certain that there are no lasting memories<\/a> of the group that cast out not one but, it would appear, two generational talents at point guard. Mark Cuban excused himself from the scene (even if he seems determined to appear on every available podcast and discuss the team as if it\u2019s still his), Nico was dispatched, Jason Kidd got the axe from Ujiri himself and a new GM (Mike Schmitz<\/a>) was installed to replace the two-headed interim tandem of Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi.<\/p>\n Now that is fundamental change at the top that another local sports club would never even consider an option, despite a 30-year absence from glory. Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Then again, the college game now demands instant pay raises for its willing-to-travel star players, and that whole thing gets frustrating. It\u2019s entirely possible (and it seems likely) that Michigan AD\u00a0Warde Manuel, believed to be a principal reason that Jim Harbaugh returned to the NFL after winning a title in Ann Arbor, led May to seek other employment as well. That\u2019s a Wolverine problem for others to decipher.<\/p>\n May won the\u00a0NCAA tournament two months ago with one of the most ferocious college defenses on record. Michigan had the best defensive efficiency rating in the nation. In the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games, the Wolverines held Alabama, Tennessee, Arizona and UConn to their season lows in field-goal percentage.<\/p>\n RELATED:<\/strong> The next Brad Stevens? Why Dusty May is positioned for successful\u00a0NBA leap with Mavericks<\/a><\/p>\n So when the Mavericks\u2019 turn came in this new era<\/a> Monday night, they picked Michigan\u2019s 6-9 forward\u00a0Morez Johnson Jr.<\/a>, who guarded basically everyone this past season including point guards when needed or on in-bounds plays.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n When\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Jay Bilas described him as \u201cthe most versatile defender, in my view, in the draft,\u2019\u2019 he might as well have been reading off the list of Mavericks\u2019 needs. Dallas ranked outside the top 20 in defense this past season, although we shouldn\u2019t place much stock in the rankings of a group that tanked from November to the bitter end just to get into the lottery.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Dusty May? Didn\u2019t have him on the list of likely head coaching candidates here, mostly because I remember a time (roughly five years ago) when a national championship-winning coach would have to be nuts to trade in that salary and status to coach a team that has missed the last two playoffs and isn\u2019t, potentially, anywhere near the top of the Western Conference.<\/p>\n