Milwaukee hired Jenkins because of, among other things, their belief that he could make the young Bucks better. With their two first-round selections now wrapped up, they just handed him the most important test of that belief on the biggest night of the offseason.
Taylor Jenkins is the perfect man for the job in developing these young Bucks
Brayden Burries, Milwaukee's 10th overall pick, brings a more immediate skill set to the backcourt with his three-level scoring, while Nate Ament, the Bucks' 13th pick, is the highest-upside piece of the haul despite being, by most assessments, the rawest prospect they could have come away with. With these pieces, Jenkins is essentially tasked with running an accelerated player development program with genuine upside at every position.
Jenkins' track record should speak for itself. He took lesser Grizzlies teams to back-to-back 50+ win campaigns from 2021 to 2023 while pushing younger pieces to reach new heights in their development. His history as a tactician is overshadowed only by his results as a player development expert. Jenkins also helped develop four Hawks starters into All-Stars during his time under Mike Budenholzer, then took over a Memphis team that had Ja Morant and built one of the more exciting young rosters in the league for three straight playoff runs.
Perhaps the most impressive part is that the Grizzlies' recent run of excellence, despite its eventual turnout, was almost wholly built from the ground up with young players who needed structure and reps and accountability. That experience overseeing a rebuild in Memphis is precisely why the Bucks hired Jenkins, and it's precisely what they're now asking him to do all over again.
Milwaukee's youth will finally get their chances under Jenkins
One of the biggest frustrations of Bucks fans these past few years was that their last few head coaches in Mike Budenholzer and Doc Rivers leaned heavily, almost exclusively, on their more established veterans. Younger pieces like Marjon Beauchamp and Andre Jackson Jr. hardly saw any movement in their development, and while effort is certainly a conversation to have, anyone paying attention knows they hardly got any opportunities to build consistency. But this shouldn't be a problem under Jenkins.
“I’m beyond excited to dive in with this group and start building a championship caliber culture that will be defined by how we work and how we live together...I’m confident that we’re going to build something special together,” Jenkins was quoted as saying at his introductory presser. "I love the depth of this team. Even in small sample sizes, just seeing how much — yes, amazing talent — but I see a competitive nature there, and that’s what I want to unlock even more.”
This recently-concluded draft night gave him the raw material. Now comes the actual work. The coach who steered the likes of Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Dillon Brooks, and Desmond Bane, can only do good things with Ryan Rollins, Kasparas Jakucionis, Kel'el Ware, Ousmane Dieng, Bogoljub Markovic, Brayden Burries, and Nate Ament. Brighter days are ahead for these young Bucks, and fans should be excited. This could be a legitimate squad a few years down the line, and the leadership of Jenkins will have everything to do with it.
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