Bucks’ Decision to Fire Adrian Griffin Was Decisive, but Risky

Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst faced reporters for the first time Wednesday and did his best to dispel the suggestion that the now former coach had lost the locker room.

“Beleaguered” is probably the best word to describe how Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst looked Wednesday, and after the last 24 hours you could understand why. A little more than six months ago the top Bucks executive wore a wide smile when he introduced Adrian Griffin as Milwaukee’s new head coach. After 43 games, Horst sounded disappointed explaining to the same group of reporters why he had to fire him.

“It’s our job to constantly evaluate and to learn and listen and just continue to figure out how to improve this team,” Horst said. “And for us, we felt like this was the right time, the right decision to make and that we had an opportunity to improve the group.”

Surprised by Griffin’s firing? There’s a reason to be. Milwaukee went 30–13 under Griffin, the second-best mark in the Eastern Conference. They had the NBA’s second-best offensive rating. After a frustrating start to January, the Bucks had won five of the last six.

Peel back the layers, though, and you could see why Horst & Co. would believe it wasn’t working. Milwaukee’s defense wasn’t bad. It was awful. The Bucks’ defensive rating (116.8) was 21st in the NBA, per NBA.com. Over the last 15 games that rating (119.8) fell to 27th.

The Bucks may hold the second-best mark in the Eastern Conference, but Griffin had seen his team drop to 27th in defensive rating over the last 15 games :: Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports

Some of that—a lot of that—is personnel. Milwaukee swung big last summer when it swapped Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard. Lillard has boosted the Bucks’ offense, but Milwaukee has missed Holiday’s versatility on defense. Consider: In Milwaukee’s last two wins, both over Detroit, the Bucks allowed the Pistons—one of the NBA’s worst offensive teams—to average 124 points.

Griffin, though, bears responsibility, too. Under Mike Budenholzer, the Bucks built a defense around the rim protection of Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Griffin, borrowing defensive philosophies from his years as an assistant in Toronto, preferred a more aggressive defensive scheme that players, publicly and privately, resisted.

“I know that we’re going to be really good offensively and we’ve got to figure out how to improve defensively consistently,” said Horst. “We’ve had points throughout the season where we’ve been very good defensively. We’ve had points where we’ve really struggled. And so trying to find a consistency and an identity on that side is part of this.”

Doc Rivers’s First Task Will Be to Fix the Bucks’ Defense

Horst bristled at the suggestion that Griffin had lost the locker room. “This is not about players’ comments,” Horst said. “This is not about things said or unsaid.” And he’s right. There was no mutiny. But in recent weeks several veterans had lost faith in Griffin’s ability to solve the team’s problems, sources familiar with the situation told Sports Illustrated. And some of the public statements—Antetokounmpo’s callout of the team, including the coaches, after a loss to Houston in January; Bobby Portis’s reported criticism of Griffin’s coaching in December—back that up.

“My biggest frustration with, kind of, the aftermath is that that’s the narrative,” said Horst. “That’s not my opinion. It doesn’t mean that I’m right or wrong, but my opinion, my assessment, the ownership’s assessment in going through this wasn’t an assessment that he lost the locker room, that there was dysfunction, that there [were] players that were jumping off a ship. That’s just not our assessment.

“Did some of those things exist? Absolutely. Is that uncommon in the NBA now? It’s almost 20 years I’ve been doing this. It happens all the time, so I’m really frustrated by that. I get it. It’s part of the business. Adrian Griffin did a hell of a job. He’s an incredible person. I believe he’s going to be a very good coach going forward. This was a chance for us to resource our team in a different way after it changed from when we hired him, and that’s why we did it.”

Horst shot down the idea that Griffin had lost the Bucks’ locker room during his 43 games at the helm :: Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports

Make no mistake: Horst is taking a big risk. A Griffin-coached team was flawed. A new coach brings different challenges. Comparisons have been made to Cleveland’s decision to fire David Blatt in 2016, midway through a successful season. Tyronn Lue took over and led the Cavaliers to a championship. But Lue had built-in equity, having spent a year and a half as Blatt’s lead assistant. A new coach in Milwaukee does not. Lue had buy-in from the Cavs’ star, LeBron James. A new Bucks coach, for now, does not.

Doc Rivers, who is finalizing a deal to take over the Bucks, a source confirmed to SI, is a good coach. An experienced coach. One with a history of succeeding with superstar players. Rivers, though, will be asked to do it in less than half a season. With limited practice time. With a mostly unfamiliar coaching staff. The Bucks believe they are a championship team. “We think we have a special group,” said Horst. Asking Rivers to iron out the flaws this quickly will be difficult.

Said Horst, “I think in the world of the NBA, and in particular with what our really smart, professional, mature players can do with a great coaching staff around them, I believe that there is enough time for them to find an identity, find a rhythm together and continue to grow.”

We’ll see. Give Horst this—he’s decisive. He forked over multiple draft picks for Jrue Holiday in 2020. He swapped Holiday for Lillard three years later. In a small market he has earned the trust of Antetokounmpo, one of the NBA’s biggest stars. He doesn’t regret the decision to hire Griffin. “No regrets,” Horst said. But he’s certain it’s the right decision to let him go.

“These are hard windows to come by,” Horst said. “These are special opportunities. … I think we have yet to maximize what we can become.”