Milwaukee set to hire Toronto assistant Adrian Griffin as new head coach

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

After a month of deliberation, there is already a new chief tactician tasked to handle the championship hopes of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Adrian Griffin, the former assistant coach of the Toronto Raptors, is set to sign with the Milwaukee organization and will replace Mike Budenholzer when the next NBA season kicks off.

Everything was made official last May 28, 2023, after veteran sports insider Shams Charania of The Athletic confirmed that the Bucks will be hiring Griffin after passing all the necessary requirements including the final stage of the interview.

Milwaukee is coming off a disappointing season after ending their NBA Playoff campaign in the first round as the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the rest of the Bucks lost at the hands of the no. 8 seed Miami Heat in just five games and were quick to fire Budenholzer after their defeat.

Expectations will again be high for the Bucks as the squad will be eyeing for a redemption bounce back season to win another NBA championship title.

The first step that they did was to hire Griffin, one of the most talented tacticians in the business and was the assistant mentor to Nick Nurse under the Raptors organization.

Griffin was an instrumental piece to Toronto’s 2019 NBA championship run when they outdueled Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in just six games.

Before staying put in Toronto, Griffin also played a vital role in the Chicago Bulls as an assistant to Tom Thibodeau way back in 2010.

Griffin’s name quickly exploded in the NBA and was also hired to be a part of the coaching staff of the 2014 Team USA roster that won the gold medal in the FIBA World Cup.

Other teams that saw potential in Griffin were the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Orlando Magic where he also filled in the assistant coach role.

Can Griffin help Milwaukee restore glory and cap off their next NBA redemption season with a championship trophy?