Milwaukee Bucks head coach Taylor Jenkins has already begun assembling his staff. Saturday, the team's first move under Jenkins was to hire former Trail Blazers coach Patrick St. Andrews, who joins the Bucks' staff as an assistant, per insider Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.
Jenkins and St. Andrews share a longstanding connection that dates back to their time in Atlanta, when St. Andrews began his coaching career. Now, his one-time boss in Memphis welcomes him as part of his new crew in Milwaukee.
St. Andrews has close ties to Jenkins from prior coaching stops
It's hard not to see Jenkins' fingerprints all over this one. St. Andrews joined the Hawks in Jenkins' final year on Atlanta's staff, then followed him to the Bucks during the Mike Budenholzer years. Jenkins spent a single season as a Milwaukee assistant, in 2018-19, before becoming head coach of the Grizzlies. He added St. Andrews to his staff in 2023-24, following the latter's five-year Bucks stint.Â
Where Jenkins has gone, St. Andrews has tagged along after him. After Memphis dismissed Jenkins late in the 2024-25 season, St. Andrews followed him out the door as current Grizzlies skipper Tuomas Iisalo put together his own group.Â
St. Andrews spent 2025-26 in Portland before fleeing new owner Tom Dundon's stingy regime to take a job under Jenkins. With Chauncey Billups out and his replacement, Tiago Splitter, unlikely to return, any connection St. Andrews forged with either ex-Blazers head coach had dissolved. Portland's loss, Jenkins' gain.Â
Jenkins may have own ideas about how to craft a coaching staff
The hire reinforces uncertainty about the job status of incumbent Bucks assistants like Darvin Ham and Rajon Rondo, remnants of Doc Rivers' tumultuous tenure. Rondo, an NBA champion and point-guard guru, is definitely worth keeping around if he isn't poached away elsewhere. Both he and Ham may have their eyes set on promotions after emerging as finalists for the Pelicans' head-coaching job ultimately claimed by Jamahl Mosley.Â
Ham, in particular, seems like a candidate to leave the staff regardless, given his close association with Rivers. As the new head honcho, Jenkins should have his pick of assistants. The St. Andrews addition would certainly suggest that Bucks management has granted him a hefty say in hiring decisions.Â
It's worth wondering whether Jenkins wants a younger crew in general. Whereas Ham will turn 53 this summer, St. Andrews is around 35. Jenkins himself will turn 42 in September. Rondo is 40. When Jenkins brought on St. Andrews in Memphis, only one member of his assistant staff was 50 or older ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.Â
As the Bucks fill their coaching offices, it will be interesting to see if Jenkins ropes in more of his former underlings.Â
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