The Milwaukee Bucks have made significant changes to their roster, and their coaching staff could soon look different.
On Saturday, NBA insider Marc Stein reported that the Bucks could soon be losing an assistant coach. He reported that Joe Prunty has emerged as a strong candidate to join the Orlando Magic.
While assistant coaches come and go around the league all the time, the Bucks losing Prunty could be a crushing blow to their bench. Prunty has bounced around as an assistant throughout his career, but he has likely been most notable for his time in Milwaukee across multiple stints.
Prunty’s current stretch with the Bucks began in the 2022-23 season, coming back to Milwaukee as an assistant under Mike Budenholzer. Prunty stayed through Budenholzer’s firing and was on Adrian Griffin’s staff.
Griffin’s midseason firing in 2024 resulted in Prunty taking over as interim coach for three games before Doc Rivers took over and has been in that spot since. Considering all of the changes with Milwaukee’s coaching, Prunty has been able to provide a small sense of consistency for Giannis Antetokounmpo and company.
In his first stint with the Bucks, Prunty was an assistant under Jason Kidd from 2014-18 and took over as interim head coach after Kidd was fired midway through 2018, leading Milwaukee to a 21-16 mark and a seven-game first-round loss to the Boston Celtics.
With Prunty potentially on his way to Orlando, there is no doubt that Milwaukee will miss him on the bench. On the other side, Jamahl Mosley could soon get a veteran assistant who is widely respected as the Magic look to take a leap, potentially over the Bucks, next season.