The Bucks have fired head coach Adrian Griffin, punctuating a tumultuous season for a Milwaukee team with championship aspirations.
Griffin — who had been in his first season as a head coach — got the hook despite heading a team that's currently second in the Eastern Conference standings. That's on account of a few things. One, the team's Defensive Rating (117.4) is near the bottom of the league, which kept the Bucks in close games against bad teams. They were a top-five defense in three of the previous five seasons, including two seasons with best Defensive Rating in the NBA over that span.
Second, Griffin was embroiled in a spat with superstar and two-time MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, after a disagreement during a game in November. Both parties publicly tempered the seriousness of the situation at the time.
Yet still, there were indications that Damian Lillard was unhappy with the coaching situation, too. Lillard's former head Terry Stotts was brought in as an assistant coach before the season, only to be abruptly let go. Reports indicated a rift between Stotts and Griffin.
While Griffin was a first-year head coach, based on the team's expectations, he has underachieved to this point. Griffin ranked No. 28 out of 30 out of all coaches this season against the spread (ATS) at 16-27. A $100 per-game bettor would have lost $1,240 by blindly tailing the Bucks on the spread for every game. His 2-10 ATS record as a double-digit favorite this season was the worst mark of any coach in the NBA this season.
Bucks Assistant coach Joe Prunty will take over as the interim head coach after Griffin's dismissal. Prunty was the interim coach in 2017-18 when the Bucks fired then-head coach Jason Kidd and finished the regular season 21-16 in 37 games and went seven games in a playoff series against the Boston Celtics.
The Athletic's Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that Doc Rivers is one of the leading candidates to replace Griffin in Milwaukee.
Doc Rivers has emerged as a serious candidate to become the Milwaukee Bucks new head coach, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium. pic.twitter.com/GveEWIozO3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 23, 2024
Rivers coached the Philadelphia 76ers last season and spent much of this season as a commentator on ESPN broadcasts. He has been the most profitable profitable playoff coach on the moneyline since 2005, but also has the most blown series leads (12) in NBA playoff history.
The news didn't have much of a negative impact on the Bucks' odds to win the Eastern Conference. Prior to Griffin's firing, they were listed at +220 at FanDuel to make the NBA Finals and that number is holding firm after the move.
