The Dallas Mavericks announced their 2025-26 coaching staff on Monday, making Frank Vogel’s position of associate coach official and rounding out the staff that will try to thread the needle of winning on two timelines with a mix of veterans and youth throughout the team’s roster.
Jay Triano, Popeye Jones, Phil Handy, Mike Penberthy, Dru Anthrop and Jordan Sears will join returning coaches Eric Hughes, Josh Broghamer and Keith Veney as assistant coaches under head coach Jason Kidd, according to Monday’s
press release.
Frank Vogel will become the Mavericks’ lead assistant coach after serving one season as a coaching consultant for the team. Before his time in Dallas, Vogel served as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns in 2023-24, following his previous tenure as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers from 2019 to 2022. During his tenure with the Lakers, Vogel led the franchise to the 2020 NBA championship with Kidd as an assistant coach. Before Los Angeles, Vogel served as head coach for both the Orlando Magic (2016-18) and the Indiana Pacers (2011-16).
In addition to his experience as a head coach, he served as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics (2001-04). Vogel graduated from the University of Kentucky, where he was a student manager for the Wildcats Men’s Basketball Team.
Ronald Jerome “Popeye” Jones returns to the Mavericks after most recently serving as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets (2021-25), where he was a member of the coaching staff for Denver’s 2023 NBA championship team. Jones, who previously served as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers (2020-21) and the Indiana Pacers (2013-20), held roles in player development with the Brooklyn/New Jersey Nets and the Dallas Mavericks before becoming an assistant coach.
Jones played 11 seasons in the NBA, including four seasons with Dallas (1994-96 and 2003), where he set the franchise record for most rebounds in a game (28 vs. Indiana on Jan. 9, 1996). He played alongside Kidd and averaged a double-double in the last two seasons of his first stint with the Mavs. Jones also spent time as a player with the Toronto Raptors (1997-98), Boston Celtics (1999), Denver Nuggets (2000), Washington Wizards (2001-02), and Golden State Warriors (2004) after playing collegiately at Murray State University.
It was rumored this summer that Jones would assume the “third assistant” role with Kidd’s coaching staff this season. Known for his frenzied work ethic in his playing days, Jones now thrives in the film room and prides himself on teaching fundamentals like spacing, screening, and team-oriented play.
Through exhaustive research, the investigative reporters here at Mavs Moneyball believe we have uncovered the exact moment that Jones realized molding young basketball talent would be his future calling. In 1996, following Jones’ third season with the Mavs, a young baller named Kirk Henderson attended his 1996 basketball camp, and the two Golden Gods of the Game got together for this now-famous photo op.
Just look at the success that meeting of the basketball minds resulted in. Now, Jones will try to work that same magic with incoming rookie phenom Cooper Flagg.
Jay Triano, the Mavs’ new second assistant, brings over two decades of coaching experience to Dallas, including 308 combined games as a head coach with the Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns. He most recently served as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings from 2022-25 after spending four seasons with the Charlotte Hornets (2018-22) and two seasons as the associate head coach and interim head coach of the Suns (2016-18).
Phil Handy joins the Mavericks staff with three NBA championship titles (2016, 2019, 2020) under his belt. He most recently served as head coach of the Mist Basketball Club in the Unrivaled League after serving as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers (2019-2024), the Raptors (2018-19), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (2013-18).
Jordan Sears rejoins the Mavericks after spending the last two seasons (2023-25) as the head coach of the Texas Legends, the Dallas Mavericks G League affiliate. Before his head coach tenure in Frisco, Sears served as the head video coordinator for the Mavericks for two seasons.
