Bucks Zone

Report: The Milwaukee Bucks are hiring Nate Mitchell and D.J. Bakker as assistant coaches

The Milwaukee Bucks are forming a stacked coaching staff.
Matthew Dugandzic|
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Milwaukee Bucks

A former colleague of Adrian Griffin with the Toronto Raptors is one of the new assistant coaches that the Milwaukee Bucks are hiring, according to a report.

Eric Nehm of The Athletic reported that Nate Mitchell and D.J. Bakker will be joining the Griffin-led coaching staff.

Solid coaching crew

Milwaukee’s current assistant coaches, Josh Oppenheimer and Vin Baker will also be retained, the report added.

It was earlier reported that ex-Bucks head coach Joe Puntry and Patrick Mutombo have also been hired as assistant coaches to Griffin.

With the recent development, it looks like the Bucks will parade a stacked coaching staff, as former Milwaukee head coach Terry Stotts is also part of the team’s coaching brain trust.

Griffin and Mitchell are very familiar with each other as they were both assistant coaches to Nick Nurse in the Toronto Raptors in 2021.

Experienced assistant coaches

Mitchell, who is expected to focus on player development in Milwaukee, started his coaching career in the NBA as an assistant of then Charlotte Hornets head James Borrego.

Mitchell also had previous stints with the Canadian National Basketball team.

Bakker is joining the Bucks after serving as assistant coach of Dwane Casey at the Detroit Pistons since 2020. Bakker also coached the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ G-League team, in 2021.

While new faces are coming on board, familiarity will not be an issue with the retention of Oppenheimer and Baker.

Oppenheimer has been with the Milwaukee coaching staff since 2020. He was a member of Mike Budenholzer’s staff when the Bucks won the championship in 2021.

Baker is Milwaukee’s 8th pick in the 1993 NBA draft. He was hired as one of Puntry’s assistant coaches in 2018 and has been with the team since then.

It has also been reported earlier that Charles Lee will be joining the Boston Celtics coaching staff, as one of the leading tacticians on the Bucks bench for the past four seasons will be moving on.

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.