Report: Milwaukee Bucks Narrow GM Candidates to Three Finalists

According to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski, the stuttering carousel that has been the Milwaukee Bucks’ search for a new general manager is finally nearing its conclusion. Woj is reporting they’ve whittled the field down to three: Justin Zanik, Atlanta “special adviser” Wes Wilcox and Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas.

This came on the heels of Woj’s report that they were to interview the potential candidates early in the week in New York. Among those apparently axed from that round include Minnesota’s Noah Croom, Indiana’s Peter Dinwiddie, Detroit’s Pat Garrity and Memphis’s Ed Stefanski.

What’s interesting about this final three is that Wes Wilcox was not among those listed in Woj’s original report about the potential final interview candidates for the week. He wrote the article illustrating that the listed names were merely “among” the candidates in for interviews this week, but it still seems a bit odd that one of the final three would not have been listed in his most recent report about candidates. Particularly so given Wilcox had been mentioned among the earliest group of people the Bucks called upon.

Woj also said that both Karnisovas and Wilcox are set to travel to Milwaukee for additional meetings with Milwaukee officials. Presumably, they’re familiar enough with Zanik at this point that he’ll be able to skip that part of the process. Who knows, though.

It appears this merry-go-round has nearly come to a close, and if I had my druthers I’d much prefer either Zanik or Karnisovas get the gig. Dodgy, insensitive remarks aside, I don’t look at Wilcox in Atlanta the last few years and see sterling success or a blueprint to model. We should all be hesitant to lay too much blame or praise at these guys’ feet, but I much prefer what both Utah and Denver did stacking roster talent the last few years.