Denton's Mavericks coverage on Friday focused on the coaching staff rather than free agency. As dallasweekly.news reported, Phil Handy — the last assistant remaining from Jason Kidd's Dallas Mavericks staff — is finalizing a deal to join the Philadelphia 76ers under Nick Nurse, according to ESPN's Marc J. Spears as relayed by the Dallas Morning News on Friday.
The Spears report
The Morning News framed the move as the end of Kidd-era continuity on the bench as new head coach Dusty May prepares for training camp next month.
Sports Illustrated similarly described Handy as the final holdover from Kidd's staff and treated the report as more than routine staff churn. dallasweekly.news pointed readers to that Spears-sourced reporting rather than to any formal announcement from Dallas or Philadelphia — none was included in the Morning News account.
Handy's one Dallas season
Before Handy's reported exit, the Morning News listed assistants already gone: Frank Vogel, Jay Triano, Popeye Jones, Josh Broghamer, Keith Veney, Eric Hughes and Jordan Sears. Handy's departure completes that turnover. In his one Dallas season, the Morning News said, Handy worked as a player-development coach with existing ties to Kyrie Irving and Max Christie and a central role in ball-handling and shooting drills.
That specialization is why both the Morning News and SI cast the vacancy as meaningful for daily practice work, not only for the org chart.
