Five questions new Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins must answer

New Milwaukee Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins will be introduced and speak to the media on Wednesday to make his first public comments since being hired.

Bucks fans are generally quite pleased with Milwaukee landing a candidate of Jenkins’ caliber, but that doesn’t mean his job will be easy. On the contrary, the difficulty of Milwaukee’s current situation requires a great coach with great answers to many pressing questions: but none more pressing than these five.

Is Giannis Antetokounmpo in or out?

There’s frankly no way that Jenkins will have a definitive answer to the Giannis question, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t or won’t be asked. The goals for the Bucks will be the same with or without Giannis on board to some extent given Milwaukee doesn’t control its draft picks and thus don’t benefit from tanking, but certainly the outlook and expectation for the Bucks is radically different with Giannis vs a scenario where he is traded.

The real insight Bucks fans can glean from how Jenkins answers this question will be twofold: how does he fare politically tackling a tricky situation, and does he tip his hat that his work building a scheme for Milwaukee this summer needs to double so his coaching staff is ready to maximize the roster in either scenario?

How can the Bucks get more out of Myles Turner?

Milwaukee’s splashy series of moves to acquire Myles Turner has been widely panned in the several months since GM Jon Horst decided to go all-in for the stretchy center. But at least for the time being Turner is still here in Milwaukee. What’s done is done: there’s no way to un-waive-and-stretch Damian Lillard’s contract or dump Pat Connaughton for multiple second-round picks.

A brutal first season doesn’t have to dictate the rest of the Turner tenure in Milwaukee. Turner wasn’t properly utilized by Doc Rivers and had a down season per the counting stats, but some glimpses of the potential the Bucks saw in pairing a younger stretch 5 with Giannis were still there.

In nearly 700 minutes the Bucks were actually great when Turner and Giannis shared the floor: Milwaukee had a plus 6.8 net rating in those minutes and the Bucks 120.1 offensive rating with their ideal starting frontcourt would’ve been the second-best in the league.

Keeping Giannis period and keeping him on the floor will doubtlessly help Turner, but Jenkins also needs to keep Turner more engaged and maximizing his strengths (shooting, rim protection, some switchability) while minimizing his subpar rebounding when he’s not out there with Antetokounmpo. Turner just started for a Pacers team that got to Game 7 of the NBA Finals: Jenkins has to get more out of Milwaukee’s center next season.

What’s the ceiling for Ryan Rollins?

Although he was snubbed for even a finalist spot in Most Improved Player Voting, Rollins’ drastic improvement was the bright spot for the Bucks in a dour season. Rollins leapt from averaging about 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists per game to putting up 17.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.6 assists while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 40.6% from three.

Given that he’s yet to turn 24 years old and accomplished all of that in a mess of a Bucks situation in his first real season playing starter minutes, it’s fair to expect more growth from Rollins. One of the biggest questions for Taylor Jenkins is how he can put Rollins in a better position to succeed than Rivers did.

Milwaukee doesn’t have many true prospects with a chance of becoming even starter level players in the NBA right now – it’s of the utmost importance that Jenkins works to uncover every ounce of potential in Rollins, who could take a star leap with more reps and a better team context around him.

Can the Bucks finally get a draft win?

This isn’t entirely a coaching question, but it also isn’t entirely not a coaching question. The Bucks have not re-signed a first round pick to a second contract since selecting Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013. They’ve had a couple of solid second round picks and struck gold in undrafted free agency with A.J. Green, but by and large the Bucks have gotten nothing from the draft.

The Grizzlies under Taylor Jenkins, on the other hand, drafted and developed players basically every single season. It’s easier when a team actually has their first round picks and is selecting in the lottery to do so, but still there’s no comparison between what Memphis built through the draft and what the Bucks have.

Notable Rookies MPG under Jenkins (GP)

2019
Ja - 31 (67)
Clarke - 22 (58)

2020
Bane - 22 (68)
Tillman - 18 (69)

2021
Z. Williams - 22 (62)
Aldama - 11 (32)

2022
Roddy - 18 (70)
LaRavia - 12 (35)

2023
GG Jackson - 23 (48)

2024
Edey - 22 (66)
Wells - 26 (79)
— Bucks Breakdown (@Bucks_Breakdown) April 22, 2026

Milwaukee will have a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft (if they don’t trade it) and absolutely needs to hit on that pick. Whoever is selected actually playing for the Bucks will doubtlessly help them grow into their potential, and Jenkins has a track record of playing rookies. Ideally he’ll also have some real input on who Milwaukee takes given Jenkins is likely to coach that player for at least his entire rookie contract, and will want someone who can fit his goals schematically.

Any drafting philosophy has to work better than whatever the Bucks were doing in 2024 when they selected AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith.

Which existing Bucks can flourish in a new system?

Roster turnover is a reality for every team each offseason, but surely some of the Bucks currently under contract for the 2026-27 season will stick around. Outside of Giannis and Turner, the two highest salaried players are Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis.

Both players are constantly thrown around the trade machine given the financial reality of making NBA trades with matching salary rules, but if either remains it’ll be imperative to get consummate contributions with their salaries.

Beyond the key veterans, seeing how Jenkins utilizes players like Andre Jackson Jr. and Pete Nance will be fascinating. Jackson Jr. went from a token starter in his rookie season to basically not playing at all last year, and Nance came out of the G League to become a key role player down the stretch of Rivers’ final season. Getting more out of either player would help fill in the blanks in a Bucks rotation that has a lot of question marks if not outright holes at the moment.

Taylor Jenkins has his work cut out for him, but showed in Memphis he can build a winner out of a bleak situation. Seeing how he tackles these five questions on Wednesday will be the first step in Jenkins’ goal to doing the same for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Add us as a preferred source on Google