Feb 27, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd reacts during the game against the Charlotte Hornets at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Mavericks adding former player to coaching staff from Nuggets

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Jul 9, 2025 2:04 PM ET

The Dallas Mavericks have had as much coaching turnover as any team in the NBA this offseason. They've lost six assistant coaches since the start of February due to a number of reasons, and that's left a lot of spots for Jason Kidd to fill with his staff.

So far, Kidd has added Frank Vogel to be his lead assistant, Jay Triano, Mike Penberthy (rumored), and Jordan Sears, while they could be looking to add Phil Handy, too. That's all to make up for Sean Sweeney, Jared Dudley, Darrell Armstrong, Alex Jensen, Marko Milic, and God Shammgod departing.

On Wednesday, Kidd added another piece to his coaching staff, as NBA insider Marc Stein reported that the Mavericks are adding Popeye Jones, who had two different stints as a player with the Mavs (1993-96, 2002-03). Jones played with Kidd during Kidd's first two seasons in Dallas, so the two of them go back a long way, and Jones is expected to be Kidd's third lead assistant behind Vogel and Triano.

Longtime NBA assistant coach and former Mavericks fan favorite Popeye Jones is expected to join Jason Kidd’s Dallas coaching staff, league sources tell @TheSteinLine and @DLLS_Sports, which would reunite them after they played together during Kidd’s first two NBA seasons. pic.twitter.com/lFNST57frZ
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 9, 2025

This is also Jones' second stint as a coach in Dallas. He was a player development coach for the Mavericks from 2007-2010 before becoming an assistant coach with the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets. He has been an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets since 2021, winning a championship with them in 2023. With Jared Dudley joining Denver's staff, who was Kidd's third lead assistant, this can be seen as a little swap.

The Mavericks would like to seal the deal on adding Handy to the staff, who is close with Kyrie Irving from their time together in Cleveland.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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