Reaction to first 3 candidates revealed in Bucks’ coaching search

2 – Charles Lee – Milwaukee Bucks Associate HC

The next coach named is one much closer to home in the form of assistant head coach Charles Lee. The 38-year-old worked under coach Bud in Atlanta from 2014 and then followed him to Milwaukee in 2018. He was always a huge part of everything good about Bud’s teams in both cities. Similar to Atkinson, he was assistant during a championship-winning team as he was alongside current Lakers head coach Darvin Ham as assisting Budenholzer and the Bucks in winning the 2021 NBA title. Fellow coaches from the Budenholzer tree include Quin Snyder, who had many winning years with the Utah Jazz, and Taylor Jenkins, current head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies who are now one of the best Western Conference teams.

One big piece of recent news regarding Lee was that the Detroit Pistons were given permission to speak to Lee, and so outcomes of this Bucks head coaching position may have a knock-on effect on whether Lee stays or potentially goes to Detroit. It may seem strange going for such a young coach, but he has so much experience working in Atlanta and Milwaukee, giving him a strong base to then make any adjustments he may see.

Lee is clearly well thought of around the league and so the decision of the next head coach may already be there on the bench. It depends on how open-minded the front office wants to be and whether that is someone in-house that knows the players and the system to change or go with someone that has more experience in a head coaching role. Whether it is with the Bucks or not, we will likely see Charles Lee with the title of head coach sooner rather than later.