The Milwaukee Bucks could be considering a head coaching change amid a five-game losing streak and a disappointing 8-10 start to the season under Doc Rivers.
Bucks Have Struggled With Doc Rivers
The Bucks fell short in each of the last two postseasons with Rivers, losing to the Indiana Pacers in the first round both times, and Milwaukee hasn’t won a first-round series since 2021.
NBA insider Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported in September that Rivers would be on the hot seat this season if the Bucks underperformed and failed to reach the second round of the playoffs.
“Moving over to the Eastern Conference, there is certainly a level of pressure for Doc Rivers and Nick Nurse to succeed with the Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively,” he wrote.
At this juncture, a deep playoff run is needed for Milwaukee to retain Rivers.
“Neither coach is in jeopardy of being fired at this moment, but both organizations expect to compete at the very top of the East. This is especially true now that the conference is wide open with the injuries to Tatum and Haliburton. Time will tell if the Bucks and 76ers look to take things in a different direction based on underperformance.”
Milwaukee Remains Confident In Rivers
Under Rivers, the Bucks have gone 73-63 (.536) in the regular season and 3-8 (.272) in the playoffs. Milwaukee won 48 games last season, the fewest for the franchise in an 82-game campaign since 2017-18.
However, the organization has yet to indicate that Rivers’ job is at stake.
“I’ve enjoyed my time with Doc immensely,” Bucks GM Jon Horst told The Athletic during an offseason interview. “It’s one of the least established relationships I had prior to making a hire of anyone in my career so far, but he and I just continue to grow closer and closer each day.
“We haven’t had the results yet in our two years together that we wanted. But it’s been two of the most adversity-filled seasons that I’ve been part of. And we’ve had two really successful regular seasons. To go through the things that we went through, if people actually look at the facts of what we went through over two years — we still finished with a fifth seed and a third seed.
“Near 50 wins in both seasons. And then we lost to the team that lost in the conference finals two years ago and the team that lost in Game 7 of the finals this year. We lost to a really, really good Indiana Pacers organization that deserves everything that they’ve got.”
But since when does a title-contending team settle for mediocrity?
Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Rumors Dominated Offseason
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the only remaining player from the 2021 championship team. While the Bucks lost Brook Lopez to free agency and they waived and stretched the remaining $103 million left on Damian Lillard’s contract, the team was able to add Myles Turner.
Milwaukee also re-signed AJ Green and Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the older brother of the two-time NBA MVP. Thanasis’ re-signing came during reports of trade speculation involving Giannis Antetokounmpo.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported in May that Giannis is “open-minded” about playing elsewhere.
In August, Charania reported that while Giannis never asked for a trade, the 12-year veteran might not be fully committed to the Bucks at this stage of his playing career.
If Milwaukee succumbs to yet another playoff disappointment, either Antetokounmpo or Rivers could be gone. In order for the Bucks to keep their superstar happy, that could mean replacing the former Celtics coach.
