AUGUST 9: The Bucks have officially hired Newton as their assistant general manager, confirming that move and announcing several more front office changes today in a press release.
AUGUST 7: The Bucks are finalizing a deal with former Timberwolves general manager Milt Newton, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who reports that Newton is poised to join Milwaukee’s front office as an assistant GM.
Newton, who also previously worked for the Sixers, Wizards, and the NBA office, was the GM in Minnesota from 2013 to 2016. He was dismissed by the Wolves after president Flip Saunders passed away and team ownership made the decision to give Tom Thibodeau full control over basketball operations. Newton has been seeking a return to an NBA front office over the last year.
While Newton won’t get the opportunity to run the show in Milwaukee, he figures to work closely with new GM Jon Horst. A surprise hire this spring, Horst doesn’t have much experience as the lead man on basketball decisions, so the Bucks had been in the market for a veteran executive to share some of his responsibilities.
A report last month indicated that the Bucks had interviewed several candidates for the assistant GM opening, with a focus on executives who had previously served as a general manager or worked closely with a GM. Newton was named in that report as a “serious candidate” for the job in Milwaukee.
Although it has been a fairly quiet offseason so far for the Bucks, they’re currently the frontrunners in our poll from earlier today on which Central club has had the best summer — many of Milwaukee’s division rivals are believed to have taken a step backward in the last couple months.
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