The Bucks will hire ex-Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins to take over their coaching vacancy, Shams Charania of ESPN reports. Milwaukee’s ownership group, including GM Jon Horst and owners Wes Edens and Jimmy Haslam, flew down to Memphis last week to discuss the team’s potential future under Jenkins. This follows Doc Rivers’ resignation as Bucks coach hours after Milwaukee wrapped up its regular season.
League sources compared the Bucks’ aggressive negotiation strategy to a full-court press, per
The Athletic, and they reportedly saw Jenkins as the top available coach in the league. Additionally, Jenkins served as an assistant to Mike Budenholzer during the 2018–19 season, where Milwaukee won 60 games and advanced to the conference finals. They wanted to land Jenkins quickly before other teams could enter talks with him after the first rounds of the playoffs. The relatively early hiring gives the Bucks and Jenkins greater control over what could be a tumultuous offseason.
Jenkins made the postseason in four of his six seasons as Memphis’ head coach, finishing with an overall record of 250-214. Jenkins was controversially fired just nine games away from the end of the regular season despite a 44-29 record, due to declining team performance and tension over Jenkins’ new offensive scheme. Still, his credentials can’t be denied. He took a struggling lottery team to the playoffs and racked up two 50-win seasons. He also earned a reputation as a player developer while in Memphis, as shown by his mentoring of then-untested players like Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr, and GG Jackson.
Jenkins is also a fierce competitor on the coaching front. Horst and company valued Jenkins’ tactical brand of play, namely a pace-and-space offense and a suffocating defense that emphasized physicality and forced turnovers. In contrast to Rivers, who reportedly lost the locker room midway through the season, Jenkins spoke extensively about forming player-coach relationships and personal connections.
The Bucks ranked 26th in defensive rating and 24th in offensive rating during the 2025–26 season. The Bucks’ leadership hopes Jenkins’ modern tactical philosophy and player development can turn those numbers around.
