Three Candidates to Replace Doc Rivers as Bucks Head Coach

Everyone saw it coming. The Milwaukee Bucks finished 32-50, missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade, and watched their franchise star publicly question whether this team even has a future. The season was a disaster, and Doc Rivers is out the door. Hall of Fame resume and all.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has two years left on his deal, real tension with the front office over his health and usage, and every reason to demand a trade if Milwaukee fumbles what comes next. And a decision is coming soon. 

The next coach has to stabilize the locker room, get back to the basics of Bucks basketball, and give Giannis a reason to stay. Three names should already be rising to the top of the search for Milwaukee. 

Nobody on this list checks more boxes than Jenkins. He's got direct organizational ties, having served as an assistant under Mike Budenholzer during the Bucks' 2018-19 Eastern Conference Finals run. His Grizzlies teams were built on pace and defensive identity. That's exactly the kind of structure Milwaukee has been missing under Rivers.

Memphis fired him in March 2025 despite a 44-29 record at the time. But Jenkins was handed a situation without real control. Five of his assistants were replaced by front office picks prior to the season, and the Ja Morant situation loomed over everything. His overall record in Memphis was 250-214, and he knows how to build a program.

The market is already confirming what the numbers suggest. Jenkins is the consensus frontrunner among people covering this search, with Marc Stein flagging him as a likely prime candidate before Rivers was even officially out. Other teams are going to come calling, and Jenkins should be at the top of Jon Horst's list.

Another interesting option here is Darvin Ham. He quietly rejoined the Bucks' staff in 2024 after his two-year run with the Lakers, where he won an NBA Cup and took the team to the Western Conference Finals in year one.

He spent five seasons as Budenholzer's top lieutenant in Milwaukee before that. This guy knows the organization inside and out, knows the culture they're trying to rebuild, and has done this before at the highest level.

The knock on Ham is that his Lakers tenure ended awkwardly. His 90-74 overall record looked better than the overall chemistry underneath it. There were questions about his systems and whether his staff was equipped to handle a roster as complicated as LeBron and AD. 

Milwaukee is heading into a transition year regardless of what happens with Giannis. Ham's player development background and his relationships within the organization could make him the right bridge for wherever this roster is going. He's already reportedly on the internal short list. 

This is the least splashy name on the list, which is exactly why he makes sense. Borrego interviewed for the Milwaukee job in 2023 when Adrian Griffin was hired. He knows the drill.

He's got four years of head coaching experience in Charlotte and championship pedigree from his time with the Spurs. He just wrapped up 70 games as interim head coach in New Orleans after Willie Green was let go in November.

Milwaukee can't afford a third straight coaching miscalculation. Griffin had the team at 30-13 before ownership pulled the plug. Rivers went 97-103 and couldn't win a playoff series. This franchise has been spinning its wheels since letting Budenholzer walk in 2023, and the clock on Giannis is ticking louder than ever.

Getting this hire right sends a message to the face of the franchise that the organization knows what it's doing. Of the three names here, Jenkins is the clearest path back to relevance. But whoever takes the job needs to understand the stakes from day one. Giannis is watching, and so is everyone else.