Report: The Milwaukee Bucks are hiring Nate Mitchell and D.J. Bakker as assistant coaches

It was earlier reported that ex-Bucks head coach Joe Puntry and Patrick Mutombo have also been hired as assistant coaches to Griffin.

With the recent development, it looks like the Bucks will parade a stacked coaching staff, as former Milwaukee head coach Terry Stotts is also part of the team’s coaching brain trust.

Griffin and Mitchell are very familiar with each other as they were both assistant coaches to Nick Nurse in the Toronto Raptors in 2021.

Experienced assistant coaches

Mitchell, who is expected to focus on player development in Milwaukee, started his coaching career in the NBA as an assistant of then Charlotte Hornets head James Borrego.

Mitchell also had previous stints with the Canadian National Basketball team.

Bakker is joining the Bucks after serving as assistant coach of Dwane Casey at the Detroit Pistons since 2020. Bakker also coached the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ G-League team, in 2021.

While new faces are coming on board, familiarity will not be an issue with the retention of Oppenheimer and Baker.

Oppenheimer has been with the Milwaukee coaching staff since 2020. He was a member of Mike Budenholzer’s staff when the Bucks won the championship in 2021.

Baker is Milwaukee’s 8th pick in the 1993 NBA draft. He was hired as one of Puntry’s assistant coaches in 2018 and has been with the team since then.

It has also been reported earlier that Charles Lee will be joining the Boston Celtics coaching staff, as one of the leading tacticians on the Bucks bench for the past four seasons will be moving on.