Six new NBA head coaches: who they replaced, what they inherit, and why the league says first-year coaches can win now

Six teams enter training camp with a new head coach. The league's own coaching tracker lists the changes: Billy Donovan out and Tiago Splitter in for Chicago; Jason Kidd out and Dusty May in for Dallas; Jamahl Mosley out and Sean Sweeney in for Orlando; Doc Rivers out and Taylor Jenkins in for Milwaukee; Willie Green and interim coach James Borrego out and Mosley in for New Orleans; and Splitter, who had been Portland's interim coach, out and Micah Nori in for the Trail Blazers. [S2]

NBA.com's Jeff Zillgitt frames the turnover against a run of first-year success: Mike Brown won the title with the Knicks in his first season there, Steve Kerr, Tyronn Lue, Nick Nurse and Frank Vogel did the same in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020, and Mitch Johnson took San Antonio to the Finals last season. That is his framing, not our projection, and he notes that success for most of these six may mean win-column progress or a playoff series win, not a Finals run. [S1]

The two first-timers

Sean Sweeney, 42, has never been an NBA head coach. His last job was associate coach in San Antonio, where he helped the Spurs reach the 2026 Finals; before that he was an assistant in Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee and Brooklyn. He inherits a Magic roster that went 45-37 and lost a seven-game first-round series, with Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Jevon Carter and Jonathan Isaac, plus Nikola Vučević back via free agency. The nba.com piece calls him a "stellar defensive mind" who also ran the offense for Dončić-era Dallas teams. [S1]

Micah Nori, 52, is the other first-time head coach. He spent last season as a Timberwolves assistant. Portland went 42-40 and made the playoffs, brings back most of that roster, gets Damian Lillard back from injury, and acquired Ja Morant from Memphis on June 29 for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. Nori's stated focus is late-game execution: he said the team went 21-22 last season in two-possession games with five minutes left. [S1] [S4]

The college champion

Dusty May, 49, left Michigan after a 37-3 season and the NCAA championship. In Dallas he works under a new front office, president Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz, with reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg at the center of the roster. The Mavericks drafted Morez Johnson Jr., who played for May at Michigan, at No. 9, and acquired 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher from Atlanta. The July 22 piece lists Kyrie Irving, Naji Marshall, Max Christie and P.J. Washington among the veterans and warns not to be surprised by more personnel changes as the season goes on; Klay Thompson, also on that July list, has since left for Miami. [S1] [S5]

The retreads with new circumstances

Taylor Jenkins, 41, was fired by Memphis nine games before the 2025 playoffs with a 44-29 record and sat out a season. He was introduced in Milwaukee in May, when co-owner Jimmy Haslam said the draft was "a natural time" to decide on Giannis Antetokounmpo's future and Jenkins was told the star may or may not be there when the season started. The answer came July 6: Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis went to Miami for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel'el Ware, Kasparas Jakučionis and draft picks. Jenkins now coaches a young roster with a handful of veterans: 2026 first-rounders Brayden Burries (No. 10) and Nate Ament (No. 13) alongside Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma and Gary Trent Jr. [S1] [S3]

Jamahl Mosley, 47, moved from Orlando to New Orleans after five seasons and a 189-221 record with the Magic, whose win total went from 22 in his first year to 47 two seasons later. The Pelicans were 26-56 last season. They have Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, Jordan Poole, Herbert Jones, Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, among others, and nba.com says the improvement curve Mosley produced in Orlando is what New Orleans is looking for. [S1] [S2]

Tiago Splitter, 41, gets a job without the interim tag after taking Portland to 42-40 and a first-round exit last season. Chicago is young: Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis, plus 2026 first-rounders Caleb Wilson at No. 4 and Dailyn Swain at No. 15, Nic Claxton by trade and Norman Powell in free agency, all under new general manager Bryson Graham. [S1]

What to watch

BetMetrics' read, labeled as such: the sourced material sorts these six into tiers. Sweeney and Nori inherit playoff rosters; May and Splitter inherit young teams whose front offices added talent; Jenkins and Mosley inherit a team that lost its franchise player and one that won 26 games. None of that is a forecast of wins, and we will not attach one until real, timestamped outputs exist. [S1]