Taylor

Jenkins

Jenkins is a former Bucks assistant who owns a winning record across six seasons as the Grizzlies’ head coach. After a tumultuous season under Doc Rivers in 2025-26, Milwaukee will shift in a new direction.

After being denied permission to interview five current head coaches, the Knicks have set up formal interviews with Jenkins and Brown. Both were fired during the 2024-25 season, with Jenkins being dismissed by the Grizzlies and Brown by the Kings. While the endings weren’t good for either, they managed to turn things around for their respective franchises. Additionally, the Knicks are expected to explore speaking with some current assistant coaches regarding the vacancy.

The Knicks have already been denied from speaking with five current head coaches and appear to be shifting their focus to candidates they don’t need permission to interview. Brown, who last coached the Sacramento Kings, and Jenkins, who was with the Memphis Grizzlies, both fit that bill. Amick reports there could be more names joining them on the Knicks’ list, which is still yet to be finalized. The Knicks are the only head coaching vacancy in the NBA at the moment and appear in no rush to hire a new coach after parting ways with Tom Thibodeau last week.

Jenkins had been leading the Grizzlies since 2019, but they will look for a new voice heading into the postseason. Memphis lost to the Thunder by 21 points on Thursday night, but they still hold a 44-29 record and are currently tied with the Lakers for the fourth-best record in the West. Jenkins has led them to that record despite not having Ja Morant for 30 games so far this season. The move comes out of nowhere, and with only a few weeks before the playoffs, the timing is certainly odd. We’ll see how the team responds as they host the Lakers on Saturday.

The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, but they should be public soon. Jenkins finished second in the league’s coach of the year voting and led Memphis to the second-best record in the NBA this season. This has been a season of awards for the Grizzlies after Ja Morant won the league’s most improved player award, and Zach Kleinman won the league’s executive of the year award. The Grizzlies will try to build on their 56-26 season next season, and they will have some key decisions to make this off-season, namely with unrestricted free-agent guard, Tyus Jones.

Kleiman received 16 of 29 first place votes while Cleveland Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman and Chicago Bulls Executive VP of Basketball Operations Artūras Karnišovas tied for second place. This was well deserved for the 33-year-old, as the Grizzlies had the second-best record in the NBA this season (56-26), matching the franchise single-season record for victories in the process.

The Grizzlies have now had four consecutive games postponed as the NBA takes an increasingly cautious approach toward return-to-play guidelines for teams with COVID-19 cases. The Wizards, for instance, will play on Sunday for the first time in two weeks after having six games postponed. The good news is that Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Grizzlies “have no new players entered into the Health and Safety protocol,” and Wednesday could very well be their last postponement -- their following game is scheduled for Saturday vs. the Spurs.

Memphis did not have the eight players required to play Wednesday night in Portland, which led to that game being postponed. There was just one positive case of COVID-19 within the team, and the league is erring on the side of caution by pushing back the next three contests.. Another road game against Portland (January 22) and two home games against the Kings (January 24 and 25) will be made up at a later date. The earliest that the Grizzlies will be able to play in a game in January 27 against the Bulls.

Jenkins had coached the Austin Toros in the G League in 2012-13, and then was hired as an assistant with the Hawks from 2013-2018. Last season, he followed Mike Budenholzer to Milwaukee, when coach Bud was hired to coach the Bucks. As Woj notes, Jenkins is third NBA head coach to come directly off of Mike Budenholzer’s coaching staff, joining Utah’s Quin Snyder and Brooklyn’s Kenny Atkinson.