Bucks hiring Taylor Jenkins to replace Doc Rivers as coach

The Bucks have their Doc Rivers replacement. 

Milwaukee hired Taylor Jenkins for its head coach opening on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. 

Jenkins, 41, went 250-214 in six seasons as the head coach of the Grizzlies, leading Memphis to three playoff appearances. 

He was fired by the Grizzlies in a stunning late-season move last March, with Memphis moving on despite holding a 44-29 record and Western Conference playoff spot.

The move marks a return to Milwaukee for Jenkins, who spent the 2018-19 season as an assistant for the Bucks under Mike Budenholzer before getting the Grizzlies job. 

Jenkins now takes the spot of Rivers, who stepped down at the conclusion of the regular season after two and a half seasons at the helm. 

The Bucks are entering a monumental offseason after going 32-50 during the regular season and missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade. 

The future of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo remains up in the air as he enters the final guaranteed season of his contract next season, with his name in never-ending trade rumors. 

Antetokounmpo, who has spent his entire NBA career in Milwaukee, was nearly dealt before the trade deadline in February, and it appears the relationship between him and the team has only deteriorated since. 

The superstar hyperextended his knee on March 15, and would later insist that he’s healthy enough to play and accuse the Bucks of refusing to let him take the court.

“For somebody to come and tell me to not play or not to compete it’s like a slap in my face,” Antetokounmpo said before the end of the regular season. “So, I don’t know where the relationship goes from there.”

In late March, Bucks co-owner Wes Edens made it clear that he doesn’t want Antetokounmpo playing the 2026-27 NBA season with Milwaukee without a new deal.

“Giannis is going into the last year [of his contract],” Edens said. “So one of two things will happen: Either he will be extended, or he’ll be traded.”