2:21pm: The Grizzlies have officially confirmed that they’ve hired Jenkins as their new head coach.
“We are excited to welcome Taylor Jenkins to the Grizzlies organization,” Kleiman said in a statement. “Taylor has an excellent coaching pedigree and we are confident he will lay the groundwork of developing the young players on our roster while having the elite basketball acumen and forward-thinking positive vision to be a high-level NBA head coach.”
10:48am: The Grizzlies‘ lengthy coaching search has come to an end, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports that the club is hiring Bucks assistant Taylor Jenkins as its new head coach. Memphis had been the last NBA team with a head coaching vacancy.
Jenkins spent several seasons with the Spurs beginning in 2007, eventually being promoted to the head coach of the franchise’s G League team in Austin. Following his time in San Antonio, he joined Mike Budenholzer‘s staff in Atlanta, serving as a Hawks assistant beginning in 2013. A year ago, he made the move to Milwaukee, once again working under Budenholzer as an assistant for the Bucks.
As Wojnarowski points out, Jenkins will become the third NBA head coach to be hired directly off Budenholzer’s staff. Quin Snyder (Jazz) and Kenny Atkinson (Nets) were assistants in Atlanta before joining their current teams.
Jenkins, who met with the Grizzlies three times during their search process, per Wojnarowski, was one of several reported candidates to interview the position. Alex Jensen, Jarron Collins, Igor Kokoskov, Nate Tibbetts, and Adrian Griffin were among the others who spoke to Memphis about the job, while Sarunas Jasikevicius was said to have received consideration as well.
Word of J.B. Bickerstaff‘s dismissal broke on April 11, so the Grizzlies spent two months searching for his replacement. It’s the first major decision made by the new management group led by team president Jason Wexler and executive VP of basketball operations Zach Kleiman.
Jenkins will assume control of a Grizzlies team that appears headed for a rebuild around 2018’s No. 4 overall pick Jaren Jackson Jr. and 2019’s probable No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant. Franchise point guard Mike Conley remains under contract for two years, but he’s expected to be a trade candidate this summer if Memphis looks to reboot around its young cornerstones.
Smart move by the Grizzlies because Kenny and Snyder have done great for the Jazz and Nets. Now they need to move Conley for Chicago’s 7th pick since Chicago wants to speed up their rebuild.
Culver and Reddish will likely be available by the 7th pick, they’d be smart to pick up Reddish since he can actually be a floor spacer alongside Jaren and Morant who don’t project to be pure shooters.
I would raise my expectations of the Bulls if they landed Conley and that would fit with what ‘Garpax’ has been doing. I have predicted Rubio & Coby White, a less aggressive/risky option.
Good ideas there, given new management in Memphis that is less invested in Conley. In the past Wallace always asked for one asset more for Conley because they really didn’t want to move him in the first place. This would deter most GMs (except the ones with no other choice but to hang in there) but the Bulls always had the option to fall back into development mode and could give up on Wallace. But the new execs in Memphis are more likely to actually pull the trigger.
Lol I’ll be honest. As a bucks fan I have no idea who this guy is? He learned from some of the best though. Also Conley trade? Bulls would have to send back a sign and traded Otto porter or Zach Lavine and a trade exception. Bulls are terrible and only getting worse
That’s true… they can’t trade Lopez anymore!
Were they worse, or just tanking?