The Bucks are finalizing a contract agreement with Taylor Jenkins and will hire him as their new head coach, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania and Ramona Shelburne (Twitter link).
Milwaukee had been in the market for a new coach after the franchise parted ways with Doc Rivers at the end of the regular season in a split that Rivers stated was “100%” his decision. According to Charania (Twitter link), Jenkins was viewed as a top candidate on the coaching market this spring, with the Bucks high on his track record of player development, culture-setting, and competitiveness.
Even before Rivers’ exit, Jenkins was being linked to Milwaukee, and reporting from The Athletic earlier this week indicated that the two sides had met since Rivers’ departure. Charania says the first meeting happened last week in Memphis before Jenkins and the Bucks met again this Tuesday to engage in more serious discussions about the job.
A former assistant in Atlanta and Milwaukee under Mike Budenholzer, Jenkins was hired in 2019 as the head coach of the Grizzlies. He led the team to a 250-214 (.539) regular season record across nearly six full seasons before being dismissed with only about two weeks left in the 2024/25 campaign.
Although Jenkins helped guide the Grizzlies, who had registered consecutive sub-.500 seasons prior to his hiring, back to the playoffs, the team was never able to get over the hump during his time in Memphis. The Grizzlies advanced to the second round in 2022 but experienced first-round exits in 2021 and 2023. Under Jenkins’ replacement, Tuomas Iisalo, Memphis was also bounced in the first round in 2025 and now appears headed for a rebuild.
Whether the Bucks are headed for a retooling phase of their own remains to be seen, but it’s probably safe to assume that Jenkins accepted the position without a guarantee that Giannis Antetokounmpo will still be on the roster when the 2026/27 season tips off.
Bucks co-owner Wes Edens suggested last month that the superstar forward figures to be either extended or traded within the next year, and that was before a late-season disagreement between Antetokounmpo and the team about his knee injury created even more tension between the two sides. For what it’s worth, Giannis later expressed that he wasn’t thrilled about Edens’ comments either.
Once the Bucks formally finalize a deal with Jenkins, it will leave the Bulls and Pelicans as the two teams actively seeking a new permanent head coach, though more clubs could join that list as the spring progresses.
Great Hire.
Great coach to take on this trainwreck, worst case scenario is he is there at the start of the rebuild to guide them back to relevancy best case is he works with Giannis and makes him want to stay and they bounce back next year, which will likely require removing Turner and Kuzma from the roster.
Lmfao I love ur verbiage … removing Kuz as if he’s a tumor. Which is accurate tbh
Was turner that bad this year? Didn’t watch much Bucks. Ik he had a down year but is he really at Kuz level of atrocity ?
Yep
Every other team with a head coach vacancy blew it. Good hire, not sure of the circumstances quite yet.
Yeah classic Bulls. Getting ready for a college hire who will clog the toilet for 3 years then crawl back to NCAA
Can’t give too much credit to a team that chose doc rivers but this is a good hire
Once Portland is out of the playoffs there should be a healthy push for Splitter now that Jenkins is off the market.
I agree… Splitter is gonna make a great lead assistant or Associate Head Coach! 🏀
With Wemby out, the Blazers might be able to steal a game or two. The fact that Tiago took over under the worst circumstances, and maybe forced out under worse, makes him a really interesting hire.
Jenkins is a good coach but his 1 downfall is not discipline his players enough. Now that he has a 2nd chance he needs to make sure to set standrads and not allow the players to take control. I am betting Ja Morant will get traded to the bucks now.
Jenkins got fired because players lost respect for him because of the new system being ran in Memphis. Ja Morant was a big factor in the change
Kinda shocked that the Bucks made a good decision