Dusty May Draws Interest From Multiple NBA Teams as Magic Search Begins

The reigning national champions could be in the market for a new coach. As the NBA coaching carousel takes shape, Michigan’s Dusty May has emerged as a potential target for multiple franchises.

On Monday, the Magic fired Jamahl Mosley, a day after the team blew a 3–1 lead against the top-seeded Pistons in the first round of the NBA playoffs. It was the Magic’s third first-round exit under Mosley. Throughout the season, Mosley’s job security was called into question as the Magic underachieved despite a talented young core led by Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, and the Wagner brothers.

May had been tied to the Magic job before it opened, with Front Office Sports previously reporting there was mutual interest between the two parties. Multiple league sources reiterated that interest on Monday, with one adding that May could also be a candidate for the Warriors if Steve Kerr elects not to return for a 13th season with Golden State. Kerr had his second meeting in as many weeks with Warriors brass on Monday, but has yet to decide if he will continue to coach the franchise he’s won four championships with.

Billy Donovan and former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau are other candidates interested in the Orlando job, according to league sources. Donovan agreed to coach the Magic in June 2007, but stepped down days later after having a change of heart. The Athletic reported that Donovan’s past history with the franchise can help or hurt his candidacy. 

Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman met with reporters on Monday after Mosley’s firing and didn’t tip his hand with what he was looking for in his next coach.

“I don’t think we look for a particular trait or a quality,” Weltman told reporters on Monday. “Coaches come in a lot of different shapes and sizes. Someone that kind of looks at our team in the way that we feel can help move us forward. Obviously someone who understands where we are on our timeline, that we’ve kind of tried to get past the growth stages of the rebuild. … I don’t have a box to say that we want the next coach to come out of this sort of box.”

May is no stranger to the Sunshine State. He was an assistant at Florida before becoming the head coach of Florida Atlantic, where he led the Owls to the 2023 Final Four. 

College coaches have historically had a tough time transitioning to the NBA, but none have been hired since the transfer portal/NIL era further professionalized the college game. Larry Brown is the only coach to win both an NCAA and an NBA title. And Donovan, who won two national titles at Florida, has just two playoff series wins in 11 years in the NBA, both of which came in his first season with the Thunder in 2016.

Coincidentally, the last prep-to-pros coaching hire came from Michigan. In 2019, the Cavaliers lured John Beilein out of Ann Arbor after he led the Wolverines to two national title game appearances. He resigned just 54 games into his first season in Cleveland after struggling to adapt to the professional ranks. 

May, who has no NBA experience, told FOS a week ago he’s thought about making the leap, but reiterated he was focused on his current team.

“I mean obviously we all think about that as younger coaches,” May said of coaching in the NBA. “But no it’s not something…our full attention has been on building this roster and plans of hopefully competing for a championship again next year.”

The 49-year-old agreed to terms of a new deal shortly after Michigan won the national championship, but told FOS he doesn’t plan to sign it until July, calling it a “formality.” The unsigned contract fueled speculation that the school was allowingMay to go through this offseason’s NBA coaching carousel. 

“We’ve agreed to the broad terms,” May told FOS. “I think I signed—we announced at the Michigan State game last year and I‘m signing it in July just because there’s Is to dot and T’s to cross. To me it’s a formality. When I told him I wasn’t even going to entertain another college job— in my mind, that was essentially signing a contract, and we would get the details worked out based on both parties feeling great about the deal.”