Report: Bucks Will Willingly Interview Will Weaver

You didn’t think we’d make it another day without hearing about a new Bucks head coaching candidate, did you? Buried within Yahoo’s Jake Fischer’s piece today, he mentions that Milwaukee is slated to interview current Paris Basketball (yes, that’s the name of the team) head coach Will Weaver for their opening.

The 39-year-old may scratch an itch for some of our foreign fans who like the idea of a Euro League coach being considered, but Weaver has plenty of NBA experience. After several years coaching at two schools in Texas—first his alma mater in Austin and then at Sam Houston State—he jumped to the pros and spent three seasons with The Process-era Sixers under Brett Brown. He then headed to Brooklyn for two years as the special assistant to Kenny Atkinson—himself a candidate for the Bucks position—before moving to the Nets’ G League affiliate. There he nearly won a title and took home the league’s Coach of the Year honors.

Next, he headed down under to take over the NBL’s Sydney Kings, though their season was messed up by COVID. After that campaign, he came back stateside to the association for three seasons on the Rockets as part of Stephen Silas’ staff. Obviously not much success during those seasons, but instead of being a part of Silas’ final year in Houston, he voyaged across the pond to take the reins of one of the Paris area’s several LNB Pro A squads. The team, which includes a couple former NBA players, finished 16-18, out of the league’s playoffs.

Apparently, that will be his only season there. If my French isn’t too rusty, he’s not renewing his contract with Paris Basketball. It seems they offered him a long-term deal which included becoming their GM, but he declined amicably, stating “I was honored that they offered me a long-term contract but it was not the right time for me and my family. I have opportunities (to join a staff) in the NBA and that’s where I’ll coach next season.”

Our own Michael Horton tells me that Weaver interviewed for OKC’s most recent search in late 2020, and Hoops Hype’s Michael Scotto reports that Brooklyn and Toronto are interested in him as an assistant. By our count, Weave is the twelfth candidate who has/will be interviewed with Milwaukee, a figure that doesn’t include reported interest in Monty Williams and Tyronn Lue. Another nugget from Fischer’s piece about one of those twelve names: Portland assistant and former Washington and OKC coach Scott Brooks “left a strong impression on Milwaukee during his meeting.”