The Milwaukee Bucks are set to hire Taylor Jenkins as the 19th head coach in franchise history, the Journal Sentinel learned April 23 from team sources.
Jenkins, 41, was an assistant coach for the Bucks under Mike Budenholzer for the 2018-19 season before taking over as head coach in Memphis. At the time, he was the second-youngest coach in the league.
“It would be hard to put into words what Taylor has meant to me, to the coaching staff that he’s been a part of – with me specifically for six years and the years in San Antonio,” Budenholzer told the Journal Sentinel in 2019. “He’s just an incredible, incredible human. He brings an incredible work ethic, the attention to detail, the feel for the game, the understanding of what’s important in building relationships. Just making a train keep moving, he’s been incredible for me and I’m forever, ever grateful to him.”
As for what Jenkins was bringing to the lead chair as a head coach, Budenholzer added, “A very clear vision of what he wants and he’ll be able to communicate and articulate and teach the players very clearly what he wants defensively, what he wants offensively and still allow players to make plays and have freedom within his vision, within what he wants for them.”
Jenkins went 250-214 (.539 winning percentage) in nearly six full seasons with the Grizzlies before being fired with a 44-29 record at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Memphis went 9-14 in three playoff trips under Jenkins and advanced to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs in 2021-22 after winning 56 games.
A Texas native, Jenkins began his NBA career as an intern with San Antonio and did a spin in the front office before getting into coaching with the Spurs’ G League affiliate in 2008. He helped the Austin Toros win the 2012 G League championship and developed a relationship with Budenholzer, then a Spurs assistant.
Budenholzer brought Jenkins to Atlanta for his first formal assistant role in the NBA in 2013-14. The Hawks made the playoffs four times and reached the 2015 Eastern Conference finals.
After Jenkins moved to Milwaukee, the 2018-19 Bucks were the league’s best team at 60-22 and advanced to the conference finals.
In Memphis, the Grizzlies oversaw a rebuild centered around 2020 first-round draft pick and eventual rookie of the year Ja Morant. The Grizzlies had two losing records in Jenkins’ tenure, going 34-39 in his first year and 27-55 in his fifth year in 2023-24 when Morant and several other key players were injured most of the season.
The team rebounded to a 44-29 mark the next year before Jenkins was dismissed with nine games left in the regular season.
Despite the winning record, the Grizzlies struggled as ESPN reported. Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman insisted Jenkins fire a handful of his long-time assistants and hire new assistants in Tuomas Iisalo and Noah LaRoche to change the offense. The team made Iisalo the interim head coach after firing Jenkins and then formally named him the head coach before the 2025-26 season.
During Jenkins’ time in Memphis, Morant was the 2020 Rookie of the Year, the 2022 Most Improved Player, a one-time all-NBA selection and a two-time all-star. Big man Jaren Jackson Jr. turned into a three-time all-defensive team member − including the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year honor − and a two-time all-star.
As a team under Jenkins, the Grizzlies went from the league’s No. 15 defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) in his first year to No. 6 in his second. His best team, the 2021-22 squad, had the league’s No. 4 defense and No. 5 offense. The 2022-23 Grizzlies had the league’s second-best defense.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks to hire Taylor Jenkins as head coach
Reporting by Jim Owczarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
