The Athletic’s John Hollinger Talks Dusty May to Mavs; Giannis Trade Scenarios

Dusty May is leaving a national championship program at Michigan to coach the Dallas Mavericks, and The Athletic's senior NBA writer John Hollinger thinks the timing is right for the jump.

"Dusty May, I think, is in a good position to make this jump," Hollinger told the show, with Kirk Morrison filling in for Rich. "He's still pretty young."

Hollinger's case rests on May's track record across different rosters. He took Florida Atlantic to the Final Four before he ever got the Michigan job, and to Hollinger that range matters. "He's shown he can win in different environments," Hollinger said. "He's done it in different places with different teams. And so I think that's a really good sign for him."

There will be a learning curve in year one, Hollinger acknowledged. But he likes the fit because Dallas is not asking May to win immediately. "That Dallas team isn't built to be a win-now team, either," he said. "So he's going to be able to grow kind of along with Cooper Flagg and Dereck Lively and whoever they take tomorrow."

The conversation then turned to the trade that has hovered over the league for years: Giannis Antetokounmpo. Hollinger said the reported finalists are the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, and that he had leaned Miami "the whole time." Now he is not so sure.

"I just wonder if the idea of Jaylen Brown is just too tempting for the Bucks," Hollinger said, weighing an all-NBA player against what he called a "Tyler Herro-led package from Miami." He pointed to the change in tanking rules as a factor. With less incentive to bottom out, and with some of Milwaukee's future picks already gone, Hollinger thinks the Bucks may simply try to stay competitive. "You have better chance of doing that with Jaylen Brown, I think, than you do with a Tyler Herro-led package from Miami."

Morrison raised the idea that Giannis would have to take a back seat wherever he lands. Hollinger pushed back. "He'll be the number one without any doubt," he said. Boston is the trickier fit because Jayson Tatum is already there, making it "a 1A 1B situation." The adjustment, Hollinger explained, is that Giannis would have to embrace being a screener as much as an on-ball player, learning to play off the ball alongside Tatum. Either way, "you still got to look at him as a top five MVP candidate and all-NBA level player."

On whether a dark horse could still crash the deal, Hollinger offered two truisms from his time in an NBA front office. "A deal is never done until it's done," he said, and big trades like this often expand to bring in third and fourth teams. He would not be surprised if the deal grew, and noted it likely would not be executed until early July, leaving room for secondary pieces to shift. He even floated that the Bucks could turn around and trade Jaylen Brown afterward.

Still, Hollinger does not expect a surprise team to swoop in. "If there was a third team that had a compelling package, by this time they would have called Milwaukee and made their pitch."