The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly agreed to send two future second-round draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Jason Kidd’s coaching rights. As of Monday morning, Larry Drew was still technically the head coach of the Bucks. What does that mean?
In all likelihood, it means Drew has been screwed. Kidd apparently asked the Nets for more power within the organization, which is something they were not going to give him after one season as an NBA head coach. He may have known that would be the case and used it to force his way out of town. Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, who is Kidd’s former financial advisor and a close friend, probably helped Kidd come up with the plan.
Does any of this seem fair to Drew? You be the judge.
Here's what the Milwaukee owners had communicated to coach Larry Drew about negotiating a deal for his job w/ Jason Kidd: Nothing.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 30, 2014
It seems safe to assume Kidd isn’t taking a front office job with the Bucks and leaving the head coaching duties to Drew, so Drew will likely be fired. Milwaukee was 15-67 in Drew’s one and only season with the team, but the future got a bit brighter with the addition of Jabari Parker last week. And Drew seemed excited about it.
“Watching him work out, I had all these thoughts go through my head,” he said, via Gary D’Amato of the Journal Sentinel. “First of all, it will be nice having a guy like Jabari in the city of Milwaukee, a guy who will be able to bring some credibility back to this franchise.”
The NBA is a business, and the Bucks owners are responsible for making business decisions that they believe are in the best interest of the team. That said, there is a right and wrong way to do business. Leaving Drew in the dark while acquiring another head coach behind his back is the wrong way.
