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Arizona Wildcats assistant coach Jason Terry has emerged as a top candidate to join the Dallas Mavericks coaching staff, according to multiple reports.
New Mavs head coach Jason Kidd has spoken to Terry about joining Dallas as an assistant, reports Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.
Terry played in Dallas from 2004 to 2012 and was teammates with Kidd in his last four seasons with the Mavs. They won an NBA championship together in 2011.
Kidd is also considering adding J.J. Barea to his staff. Barea is another member of the 2011 title team.
As Jason Kidd begins to assemble his coaching staff, with his formal hiring as Mavericks head coach apparently imminent, 2011 title-team teammates JJ Barea and Jason Terry certainly appear to be strong candidates to rejoin the organization.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) June 25, 2021
“I hope,” Barea says.
Terry has openly acknowledged his aspirations to lead a college or pro team. He reaffirmed those goals on a June 21 radio interview with Zach Gelb of CBS Sports.
“Don’t rule out me being on a bench here in the NBA,” Terry said. “I also have aspired to give my 19 years of experience and knowledge to these young guys (at Arizona) and mentor these guys and show them the way. We’ll see what the cards hold but I’m enjoying my time at Arizona under the leadership of Tommy Lloyd and back at my alma mater, so I’m having fun doing what I do.”
Asked if he could see himself one day as head coach of the Mavs, Terry said “100 percent.”
“That’s definitely on my bucket list of dreams and goals to come true,” he said. “When you put all the Xs and Os aside, it’s about managing people. Are you a people person? Can you get guys to buy into your system and fight for one cause in the betterment of the team? For me, that’s kind of what I did my whole career.”
Terry still lives in Dallas part of the year, where he and his wife raise five daughters.
The 43-year-old joined Arizona as an assistant in May of 2020 under former head coach Sean Miller. Terry remained on the Wildcats staff through Miller’s firing this April and along with Jack Murphy was one of two assistants retained by Lloyd.
Money is likely not a top priority for Terry, but an assistant coaching job in the NBA would almost certainly be a raise compared to the $280,000 salary he makes at Arizona.
With Dallas, Terry’s responsibilities would include mentoring star Luka Doncic.
“Me knowing Luca the way I do, he’s a hooper,” Terry told Gelb. “I know he can trust Cuban and the powers that be to put the necessary pieces around him.”