Details on how much the Milwaukee Bucks are paying Taylor Jenkins.
On April 30, the Milwaukee Bucks hired Taylor Jenkins as their new head coach. Jenkins takes over for Doc Rivers, who spent just over three seasons as the bench boss for the Bucks.
Rivers went 97-103 in 200 games with the Bucks, the only team he has a losing record with in his 27 coaching years among five different teams.
He failed to win a playoff series in his three seasons, and the Bucks missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade this past season.
Jenkins joins the Bucks after taking a year off from the league following his dismissal from the Memphis Grizzlies in March 2025 with nine games remaining in the season.
Taylor Jenkins Contract Details
According to The Athletic, Jenkins' new deal with the Bucks makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league.
“Per league sources, new Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins signed a long-term deal with a salary that is well north of $10 million annually. Jenkins isn’t the highest-paid coach in the league, as that honor goes to Golden State’s Steve Kerr at $17.5 million annually (for now, as he continues to contemplate whether to return). Miami’s Erik Spoelstra is second (approximately $15 million). And Jenkins, the former Memphis Grizzlies coach who was once a Bucks assistant in Antetokounmpo’s early days, is up there now.”
Jenkis spent five years as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks and one year as an assistant for the Bucks before being hired by the Grizzlies in 2019.
In six seasons with the Grizzlies, Jenkins had a 250-214 record, making the playoffs three times, but never advancing past the second round.
He was fired in 2025 despite a 44-29 record and Memphis in a playoff position.
New Road Ahead For Jenkins
The Bucks are coming off a disappointing season where they missed the playoffs for the first time since Giannis Antetokounmpo was a rookie. Giannis and Jenkins have a relationship from Jenkins' one season as an assistant in Milwaukee, but that was years ago.
It is unclear if Giannis will even be on the team by the time next season starts, as trade rumors have been attached to his name for nearly a year now.
Trading Giannis would potentially signify a rebuild for the Bucks, which Jenkins is no stranger to. He took over a Memphis team that finished 12th in the west the season prior as the grit and grind Grizzlies were on their last legs.
They drafted Ja Morant in 2019, starting a new era in Memphis.
Though Jenkins didn't get Memphis over the playoff hump, the team had sustained success in the regular season and was competitive each year.