Following the dismissal of Adrian Griffin just 43 games into his head coaching career, the Bucks have opened discussions with Doc Rivers to become the team’s new permanent head coach, league sources tell Shams Charania, Sam Amick, and Eric Nehm of The Athletic. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), however, hears that the two sides have yet to talk.
Either way, it sounds like Rivers is the leading candidate to supplant Griffin as the head coach in Milwaukee. Wojnarowski acknowledges that Rivers is a “top target” and says the team is expected to reach out soon to gauge his interest.
Rivers already has a connection to the Bucks, having informally served as a consultant for Griffin this season at the behest of the club, according to The Athletic’s report. League sources tell Charania, Amick, and Nehm that the Bucks reached out to Rivers in order to organize a meeting between him and Griffin at the in-season tournament in Las Vegas last month.
The hope was that Rivers would be able to offer some advice and guidance to the first-time head coach about how to navigate the pressure of leading a team with championship expectations, per The Athletic. Following the resignation of assistant Terry Stotts ahead of the regular season, Griffin didn’t have any veteran head coaches on his staff with that sort of experience.
If Rivers and the Bucks don’t end up agreeing to a deal, Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson is considered another strong candidate for the job, according to Charania, Amick, and Nehm. Atkinson was a runner-up to Griffin in Milwaukee’s head coaching search last spring.
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- Bucks players began questioning Griffin’s strategies and schemes on both ends of the court earlier this season, and those questions grew louder in recent weeks as the team failed to show significant growth, according to The Athletic’s report. Milwaukee has gone just 6-5 in January and there were concerns about Griffin’s ability to communicate his vision to his players.
- The Bucks’ declining effectiveness on the defensive end and the use of Damian Lillard on offense are among the factors that contributed to Griffin’s exit, per Charania, Amick, and Nehm. League sources tell The Athletic that Lillard – whose usage rate is at 27.9%, his lowest mark since 2014/15 – “has spent much of this season struggling with the way the Bucks function on the offensive end.”
- There wasn’t one single reason why Stotts stepped down from his position before the season began, according to The Athletic’s reporters, who say he and Griffin were never exactly on the same page about the veteran assistant’s role and responsibilities. Their disagreements came to a head and resulted in a brief verbal confrontation during an October 17 shootaround in Oklahoma City, with Stotts feeling disrespected by how he was treated.
You’ve gotta be kidding me. Doc Rivers? Well, sorry Dame. Get ready for a quick playoff exit.
Time for Doc to lead another team that will choke away another playoff series.
lol. Doc Rivers is trash as a in-game coach. I wouldn’t let him coach a HS team.
As a Celtics fan, this is all pretty funny. They fire their head coach when they are tied for the second best record in the NBA all to hire…Doc Rivers.
And do you think Dame has a lower usage rate than in the past because he’s playing with Giannis? Just maybe?
Hire stotts. He is a mastermind on offense and knows how to squeeze out great productivity. Look what he did with Portlands roster. Then bring a defensive expert to handle that end of the court.
Please hire Doc!
Sincerely,
All sixers fans
The Bucks are in a real sticky situation with trying to convince Giannis that they are serious about winning. First, they tried to do that by giving up a lot to get Lilliard. But lack of a coaching vision and player execution of that vision has hurt them and likely has Giannis wondering if it’s time to look elsewhere for a ring.
I don’t see Doc Rivers as the answer for this team. His preferred offensive and defensive sets are a poor fit. Frankly, if there was a personality clash between Griffin and Stotts, then the problem left with Griffin’s dismissal. The Bucks could do a lot worse than to gauge Stotts’ interest and availability in coming back to coach the team. He has a strong and generally productive relationship with Lillard and his uptempo offense is much better suited to the current makeup of the Bucks roster.
Look elsewhere for a ring? They have the second best record in the NBA. Where do you think he should go. Boston?
Giannis is a BIG reason they’re in this mess. Nevermind player moves they may or may not have made to appease him, Griffin was the guy Giannis wanted. And it took half a season for 34 to change his mind.
Bring back Terry Stotts…..a well respected and successful NBA coach…
Why fire a coach who has his team in second place? Bucks are not better than Boston.
I didn’t realize it but that 6-5 record in January sure opened some eyes.
If not for the games against Detroit, could easily be under .500.
Atkinson is almost for sure a no. I cant imagine the warriors would allow him to leave mid season after another of their main coaches died. It would be to hard for Kerr and the players.
They absolutely would let him leave. Especially since the Warriors are going nowhere fast. They would never hold someone back from a head coaching position.
But I don’t think Atkinson is the right guy for this team. He’d be better on a young team looking to grow. In my opinion.
Another thought is that Kenny has stayed with the Warriors these last couple of years because if Kerr calls it quits after 10 or so years on the job Atkinson can step right in. Provides great continuity.
Doc is coming ….
Have to wonder if Doc maybe made some comments like “Stotts is trying to one-up you” and planted the seed, knowing it would backfire. Now he reaps all the benefits. Kind of suspicious that the “consultant” is now the leading candidate…
Stotts was long gone before the Rivers meeting, read the article.
I wish someone let us know what was in that locker.
I think the Magic 8 Ball says Stotts will be the coach and Griffin will be his “defensive” guru. Double entendre delivered!
He came in and essentially did a lot of the similar things that got budenholzer fired, so why would you expect different?
Connaughton and Portis/Crowder/Beauchamp/one of the other young guys should start over Beasley and López (depending on matchups), and they should have used their young versatile defenders more…with Crowder coming back, that should also help, and they should use Giannis more at the 5 as well
Outside of certain matchups, Lopez shouldn’t be playing more than 18-25 minutes
If they go with Doc Rivers though…ROFLMAO
I don’t get how this dude keeps getting these opportunities when he has admitted himself that he doesn’t even know the players on his own teams/in the league now that he is on commentary, where he repeats the same lines every night
Why hire people to come in and do the same things you fired the previous 2 guys for?
Doc Rivers is so overrated
Not sure what the Bucks expected 3 months after revamping their roster and hiring a first-time coach. Growing pains are exactly what they signed up for. Personally I think Griffin and Lillard are both huge upgrades, but you have to give those things time. If they cared about stability and continuity so much they should have kept the roster and the coach they had before.
I’m also not sure how the Bucks are expecting defensive tenacity after trading away their best defenders.
Seems Griifin was losing his players. They know this is a championship team. And he’s the rookie coach. This is a vet team that now with Dame. They should be top dogs.
I always like Doc. Not a hater. I always thought he should have stayed in Philly. Seems Philly is doing fine without him.
Now it just gets juicer. Top two teams in East have way too much history. This story will only grow and get better. Especially if they meet in East Finals.
Imo I always thought Bucks would be top team. Middleton has been down and Crowder. So I get being 2nd for now. But now you have the coach being an issue. Both Boston and Milwaukee are finding chemistry. With new main players. I expect both to be there at end.