Report: Jason Kidd is on the hot seat with Milwaukee Bucks
By John Buhler
Jason Kidd reportedly has members of the Milwaukee Bucks’ ownership group torn on either keeping him around going forward or letting him go this offseason.
The Milwaukee Bucks may have fallen way short of expectations in 2015-16, failing to make the 2016 NBA Playoffs with a 33-48 record through 81 games, but do have several high upside players on their young roster like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker, and Khris Middleton.
That being said, it seems that Bucks ownership is torn on what to do with struggling head coach in Jason Kidd: does he stay with Milwaukee or does he part ways with his second organization in three years?
According to Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times, Kidd “hasn’t endeared himself to the rest of the Bucks’ ownership group” outside of friend and owner Marc Lasry. “Some think Kidd’s arrogant, some think his heart isn’t in coaching and are miffed he took a portion of the season for hip surgery when he could have had it done in the offseason. Some…question his coaching acumen and his player personnel decision-making.”
If this is the case for how most of the Bucks’ ownership group outside of Lasry feel about Kidd, then perhaps his days as the Milwaukee head basketball coach are coming to a close.
In terms of personnel, perhaps where Kidd has taken the most flak is in swapping of point guards by sending borderline All-Star Brandon Knight to the Phoenix Suns for the Philadelphia 76ers’ Michael Carter-Williams. Milwaukee has been considerably worse since this deal and Antetokounmpo has been playing point forward to account for Carter-Williams’ frequent and inopportune turnovers of the basketball.
Woelfel also adds that Bucks general manager John Hammond “will be soon relocating to another zip code– either being fired or leaving on his own volition.” Some believe that if Hammond does leave Milwaukee that it would be for the New Orleans Pelicans and that could prove too much for ownership to keep Kidd around in 2016-17.
Even if Kidd and Hammond leave the Bucks organization, the new and committed ownership group and especially that dynamic young roster will make several marquee coaching candidates want a shot at the Bucks gig in 2016-17 should it become available. The bigger question is what would come next for Kidd, a Hall of Fame player turned failed NBA head coach?
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