Milwaukee Bucks: Joe Prunty, Greg Foster land assistant jobs elsewhere
By Adam McGee
After lengthy spells on the Milwaukee Bucks’ coaching staff, Joe Prunty and Greg Foster have landed new coaching jobs elsewhere.
While the wait for official news on the shape of Mike Budenholzer’s coaching staff with the Milwaukee Bucks continues, two of the franchise’s former coaches have reportedly landed new jobs in other NBA cities.
Greg Foster, who played for the Bucks as a player and joined the coaching staff in 2014, is headed in the opposite direction to Budenholzer and Milwaukee’s likely new assistants, as he will reportedly join Lloyd Pierce’s Atlanta Hawks staff. Marc Spears of The Undefeated reported the news.
The Hawks have added Greg Foster and Matt Hill to new head coach Lloyd Pierce’s coaching staff, a source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 4, 2018
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Even more notably, Joe Prunty, who most recently served as the Bucks’ head coach following Jason Kidd‘s dismissal, is said to be moving on for a lead assistant job with the Phoenix Suns. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news, and having also joined the Bucks in 2014, Prunty will now join Igor Kokoskov’s new staff in Phoenix.
Prunty went 21-16 as Bucks head coach before losing to the Boston Celtics in seven games in the first round of the playoffs.
As was promised at the time he was appointed as head coach, Wojnarowski indicates that Prunty interviewed for the Bucks’ head coaching spot on a permanent basis prior to Budenholzer’s appointment.
The departure of two key assistants from the former Bucks’ coaching staff would appear to make it even more likely that Budenholzer’s assistants from Atlanta will be joining him in Milwaukee soon.
Charles Lee was reported to have signed a contract to become a Bucks assistant last week, while Chris Jent will stay in Atlanta under Pierce. The rest of Budenholzer’s staff are expected to make the move to Wisconsin for next season and beyond.
Next: Milwaukee Bucks: What can Mike Budenholzer’s assistants offer?
If that does transpire, Darvin Ham would be expected to take on Prunty’s old role of lead assistant, as he worked alongside Budenholzer in that capacity in Atlanta. Taylor Jenkins, Ben Sullivan and Patrick St. Andrews would be the other names to look out for from Budenholzer’s former staff on that front, while it’s still not impossible the likes of Vin Baker, Sean Sweeney or Josh Broghamer could be retained by the Bucks too.