Milwaukee Bucks: 5 reasons Jason Kidd was fired
4. Stalling of young player development
Early into Jason Kidd’s tenure as head coach of the Bucks, it was easy to point to his greatest strength as a coach: developing young talent. Giannis Antetokounmpo went from young potential to dominant actualization under his watch, as Kidd made the bold-at-the-time move to put the ball in the hands of a 6’11” lanky forward from Greece.
Alongside the MVP candidate is Khris Middleton, a throw-in player in a trade centered around Brandon Jennings and Brandon Knight. Kidd empowered him to take more shots and extend his range, and Middleton has responded by scoring over 20 points per game this season. The former Texas A&M wing has carried the load whenever Antetokounmpo has been out, including a triple-double Saturday and 35 points Monday.
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Last season the Bucks made an unlikely surge into the playoffs after struggling for much of the year, with rookies Malcolm Brogdon and Thon Maker starting and playing key roles. Kidd’s foibles seemed to be covered up by the brightness of his successes in developing talent.
This season those success have come to a grinding halt, the Bucks have been held back by the lack of non-Giannis development as much as any other reason. Brogdon has taken a huge step back on defense, while Maker has completely flatlined as a player. Both were supplanted in the starting lineup, although Brogdon has worked his way back in recently.
D.J. Wilson, the team’s first round pick last June, has barely seen the court. Rashad Vaughn was another young first round pick, in 2015, and he has proven unable to secure court time despite this team’s need for another rotation wing. Perhaps given time Kidd could have coached up one or more of these players, but his inability to do so with anyone this season opened the door for his dismissal.