The Milwaukee Bucks have started to put together a wide list of candidates to interview for their head coaching vacancy, and a new name has joined the mix.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks have received permission to interview current Portland Trail Blazers assistant Scott Brooks. The former OKC Thunder and Washington Wizards coach joins Kenny Atkinson, Charles Lee, and James Borrego as the first names linked to the Bucks amidst their coaching search. Brooks is a surprising name to see pop up here.
Reaction to the Bucks interviewing Scott Brooks for head coaching gig
Out of all of the candidates that the Bucks are rumored to be looking at, Brooks has garnered the most experience among them. He’s 521-414 (.577) in the regular season and 49-48 (.505) as an NBA head coach all time. While experience absolutely matters in Milwaukee’s next head coach, Brooks is not a name that many had in mind for this job.
Brooks has experience handling stars such as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Bradley Beal but has never been able to get it done on the big stage. One reason for that can be summed up in this SB Nation article by Satchel Price from 2015. When discussing why Brooks was let go by the Thunder, Price said:
"“Much of that tied to the offensive end of the floor, where the Thunder often lacked the creativity or movement seen in other top offenses. The team typically depended on Durant or Westbrook to create chances, which at times left them tired and/or overwhelmed. To many outside observers, Brooks’ lack of technical acumen was always going to be an issue when putting together the playbook.”"
Does that sound familiar? A big reason why the Bucks have fallen short in the past two playoffs has been due to their lacking offense. Bringing in a head coach known for these lapses and a lack of creativity on that side of the ball would be a head-scratcher.
Of the four candidates linked to the Bucks thus far, Atkinson certainly stands above the rest as an assistant who has experience and can bring something new to a team. Bucks fans are still waiting for more household names such as Nick Nurse and Frank Vogel to enter the mix for this job, but it appears they are not among the initial candidates the Bucks are eyeing.
The Bucks will leave no stone unturned in this search, so expect more names to pop up often.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.