Three Replacements For Adrian Griffin as Bucks Head Coach

Tuesday brought truly shocking news in the NBA world as Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a certified Woj Bomb announcing the Milwaukee Bucks had fired rookie head coach Adrian Griffin. The team just hit the halfway mark of the 2023-24 season with a 30-13 record, good for second in the Eastern Conference. But apparently that's not good enough for a team with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. Griffin is out.

Mere minutes later Shams Charania reported Milwaukee will seriously consider a certain ESPN analyst to replace Griffin-- none other than Doc Rivers.

Well now, that is an insane turn of events. The Bucks probably are not as well-rounded a team as last year given their defensive drop-off but that's exactly what should be expected when you swap Jrue Holiday for Lillard. In fact, the whole season has pretty much gone according to plan from an outside perspective. The team's defense is a work in progress but the offense is nearly unstoppable, especially in transition. And despite all the roster turnover they're winning more than enough games to earn a favorable seed come playoff time. Some serious shades of David Blatt here.

Undoubtedly we will learn all about why Griffin was canned in the coming days and weeks. For now, we have to wonder who will replace him as head coach with Milwaukee in title contention.

Doc Rivers

The only natural place to start. Rivers was named with absolutely shocking speed as a possible replacement, making us wonder if the Bucks checked in on his interest before canning Griffin. And it makes sense to some degree. The Bucks' roster is a classic case of a team loaded with veteran talent who would prefer a light guiding hand who will let them cook over a disciplinarian or tactician. Rivers is exactly that. He has his flaws but has long been beloved by the players. Rivers is under contract with ESPN to call games with their A-team right now but almost definitely has an out in his contract to go coach if he gets an offer so we absolutely cannot rule him out.

Joe Prunty

Prunty was on Griffin's bench and has been named the interim head coach in the wake of the dismissal. He is by far the most likely candidate to keep the job simply due to the nature of being a head coach in the NBA. As much as the team and organization apparently did not enjoy Griffin's system it is way easier to adjust it than replace it entirely, as would be the case if Rivers or another coach was brought in. Prunty also has a pretty good resume himself; he's been coaching since 1996 and been apart of the Spurs, Mavericks, Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, Nets, Suns, Hawks, and Bucks. If Milwaukee strikes out on Rivers or decides it would be easier to stick with an in-house option, it'll be Prunty and his decades of NBA experience.

Terry Stotts

You may laugh but this could make a lot of sense. Stotts was supposed to be on the bench this year for the Bucks but quit a week before the season began after an altercation with Griffin. Why not bring him back? He knows Lillard very well from his years in Portland and boasts a decade of head coaching experience. He knows the rest of the roster after spending the summer preparing to coach them. Obviously the man himself has to be willing but Milwaukee should check in. He's as good of an option as Prunty and arguably better than Rivers.