The NBA coaching carousel will start to spin soon in Milwaukee, as Bucks interim head coach Jim Boylan will not be offered a new contract to return to the team after taking over for Scott Skiles earlier in the year.
According to ESPN.com, Boylan is out despite leading the team to the playoffs for the first time in three years and it is likely due to getting swept by the Miami Heat and losing 12 of the their last 16 games of the regular-season. The report says that the Bucks finished with their third consecutive losing year and eighth in the past nine season. The team lost all four games against the Heat by double digits and looked outmatched.
The move to let Boylan go opens the door for a number of candidates, including Stan Van Gundy and Kelvin Sampson. According to Yahoo Sports, the Bucks have started to look at other candidates and they have zeroed in on the former Orlando Magic coach as well as Sampson, who is a Houston Rockets assistant. General manager John Hammond is looking for new style of coach after Skiles, who could be very hard and demanding on players while rubbing some the wrong way.
The report says that the team also has identified Los Angeles Lakers assistant Steve Clifford and Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Malone as possible candidates after letting Boylan go. The Bucks are in a period of transition with Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis set to be free agents and the team also has some young talent to work with. During his career with the Heat and Magic, Van Gundy has gone 579-371 and he would be a very interesting candidate to bring in and he could help revitalize the franchise. Van Gundy once was an assistant at the University of Wisconsin before heading to the NBA.
J.J. Redick was acquired during the season and since the team wasn't to sign him, that could bode well for Van Gundy, who expressed before that Redick was one of his favorite players to coach in Orlando. The Bucks had a tough season despite making the playoffs and Boylan led them to a 22-32 record through the playoffs after taking over. The Bucks won eight of 11 after the coaching change, but after getting above .500 the team slumped and ended up in the eighth playoff spot by season's end.
The team had many bright spots, including with Larry Sanders, who is now considered one of the best defensive players in the conference. He doubled his scoring and also grabbed a nice amount of rebounds for a team that lacked size inside. Both coaches could be good fits for a team that finished 38-44 this year and third in their division and a new name like Van Gundy or Sampson could be what turns the franchise around.
"Jim had a difficult time at different points in the season, and some of it had to do with the roster. The number of free agents we had, that can be difficult," Hammond said, echoing the sentiment of several players earlier this week.