Bucks coach Doc Rivers will become a Hall-of-Famer this year, and there may be more news coming from him in the months ahead. According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link), there is a growing sense that Rivers and the Bucks could either part ways or change his responsibilities after a season that has gone off the rails. Milwaukee has a 31-47 record and the franchise appears to be growing increasingly at odds with star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
While Stein doesn’t specify what such a restructuring would look like, the implication is that it could include a move to the front office.
“At the very least, Rivers’ Springfield induction in August, at age 64, has helped fuel the notion that he will not be coaching the Bucks after the regular season concludes,” Stein writes.
Jake Fischer, also of the Stein Line, agrees (via Twitter) that significant changes are expected in Milwaukee this offseason, while Stein adds that former Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins is seen as a potential candidate to replace Rivers should the Bucks decide to move on this summer.
We have more updates from Stein:
- The Bulls may be weighing the future of executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, as the team will miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season. Chicago has advanced beyond the play-in just once during Karnisovas’ tenure, and that playoff appearance resulted in a quick first-round exit in 2022 against the Bucks. The Bulls’ front office under Karnisovas has also struggled to find a direction or extract peak value in trades. Meetings to determine the veteran executive’s future with the team will be taking place soon, per Stein.
- Despite their front office uncertainty, the Bulls would like to retain head coach Billy Donovan, Stein writes, noting that the team denied the Knicks’ request to interview him for their head coaching vacancy last summer before signing him to a multiyear extension. Donovan has recently been linked to the UNC head coaching job, but Stein writes that the Bulls’ coach will likely want to wait until after the season concludes on April 12 to meet with the Tar Heels, and the university may want to make a decision sooner than that.
- The Trail Blazers may be one of the teams looking for a new coach this offseason. New owner Tom Dundon is said to be surveying the coaching landscape as he determines interim head coach Tiago Splitter‘s future with the team. According to Stein, there’s an expectation that there could be more league-wide coaching movement than there was last year, and Splitter, who took over at the beginning of the season following the arrest of Chauncey Billups, may be one of the coaches on the move.
Finally the Bulls decided to get to the root of the problem.
The root of the problem won’t ever be addressed unless the owner sells
He won’t sell – he has to die first.
Rivers should float on away as part of a rebuild or transformation this offseason for the Bucks. I haven’t seen a ton of blazers games tbh but I feel like Splitter has surpassed expectations by a lot and should be considered to be kept by the Blazers or else a good HC candidate elsewhere
While Tiago Splitter may not be regarded among the elite coaches in the league, he has done a decent job of taking a very young roster and building a culture of confidence and cohesion. If the Blazers opt to look elsewhere for another coach just a year after Splitter took over for Chauncey Billups, then the new coach will want to install a new offense and defense. If the new ownership group opts to keep Joe Cronin as GM (and there are signs they are leaning in that direction), then they may be better served to let Splitter (who descends from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree) remain and see how he can continue to build up the younger players.
Change for the mere sake of change is not always a good thing. Just ask Blazers assistant Nate Bjorkgren, who had a disastrous year succeeding Nate McMillan as head coach of the Indiana Pacers.
I agree with everything you wrote and learned some blazers history.
I’ve noticed that Tiago has a good demeanor. He seems supportive of the players through good and bad games, even if it was clearly game planning, or execution to decide the outcome of games.
Young coaches descending of the spurs lineage are a national treasure.
There is no need for a new coach in Portland, especially before you gave Tiago the opportunity to direct and coach these guys from training camp.
I would like to see them sell high on Donovan Clingan whom I don’t believe will be able to withstand the physical toll of the NBA for years to come, and more importantly – get rid of Scoot.
Lillard expressed that he wants to add to what the blazers currently have, which is exactly what I was hoping to see from scoot when he came back from his injury, but instead he’s shown that he’s ineffective off the ball and still a poor decision maker with it.
Deni, Jrue, Lillard covers all the ball handling you can get in 48 mins.
Hopefully they can draft or trade Clingan+Scoot for a big man to replace Donnie, as Yang doesn’t seem like a good prospect either. Love Rob Williams though!
I believe Donovan Clingan compares favorably to another former Blazers post player, Wayne Cooper. Coop wasn’t all that flashy, but he was a solid rebounder and rim protector when Portland needed both as they ran the offense through Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter.
Whether Clingan stays or goes will ultimately be up to th Blazers front office. I do think he could develop into a solid pick-and-roll option.
As for Scoot, the Blazers fell for the hype. He is a good player by not worth a top-five pick. There area lot of young players on other rosters that already fill the skill set he would bring, so the list of possible suitors will be slim at best.
North Carolina would be wise to stay away from Donovan.
If the Knicks actually attempted to interview Donovan last offseason that gives me even less faith in how that hiring process played out. Just….why???