When the Bucks hired Jason Kidd as head coach before last season, speculation immediately turned to whether he’d take control of the front office. After all, he had just attempted a power play to become the Nets’ president.
But the Bucks insisted they hired him only as coach.
With Kidd out due to hip surgery, that claim is getting revisited.
Adrian Wojnarowski on The Vertical Podcast with Woj:
Jason Kidd has left the team for apparently six weeks to two months to have hip surgery. A lot of people around the league and people I talked to in the aftermath of this wonder, given Kidd’s penchant in the past to bail on things when they get difficult – could this be the beginning of Kidd’s escape hatch to maybe just moving up to a full-time role in the front office, whether he finishes up coaching this year and then tries to move up next year?
He goes to Milwaukee with the title of head coach, but since the day Jason has arrived there, he’s been in charge of personnel. That’s not a secret.
Drafts Rashad Vaughn when I know that the front office there would’ve liked Bobby Portis
They’re in the process of identifying some potential GM-in-waiting candidates to eventually work with John Hammond and Jason Kidd.
How do long do they entrust Jason Kidd with the future of this organization. Will they allow him here just to move into a complete front-office and maybe hire his own coach?
John Hammond is the Bucks’ official general manager, and they extended his contract through next season. That wouldn’t preclude a change, though. And it sounds as if, regardless of Kidd’s title, Milwaukee wants Hammond to groom his replacement.
As for Kidd, the Bucks have a shaky record of transactions since hiring him. Trading Brandon Knight at last season’s trade deadline wasn’t necessary a mistake, but I’d rather have the top-three-protected Lakers pick that went to the 76ers in the three-way deal than Michael-Carter Williams. A first-round pick was a massive overpay for Greivis Vasquez on an expiring contract, and Milwaukee also included a second-rounder in the trade with the Raptors. Dumping Jared Dudley, Zaza Pachulia and Ersan Ilyasova made sense if Kidd was willing to get younger and take a possible step back in the short term, but his reliance on Jerryd Bayless and O.J. Mayo suggests otherwise. Even smaller moves – like waiving the younger Nate Wolters to sign over-the-hill Kenyon Martin, a former Kidd teammate – look suspect.
And there’s drafting Rashad Vaughn over Bobby Portis with the No. 17 pick last year. Vaughn is represented by Jeff Schwartz – the agent who came under fire for counting both Kidd and players as clients. While Portis is pushing for more playing time in a crowded Bulls frontcourt, Vaughn is struggling to find his footing (though it’s far too early to cast final judgments on the rookies).
Kidd’s relationship with Schwartz also has positives for the Bucks. Another Schwartz client, Khris Middleton, surprisingly re-sign for less than a max contract with the Bucks. Add Kidd luring David Falk client Greg Monroe to Milwaukee, and it appears Kidd deserves credit for successfully selling his vision to free agents.
Still, Kidd’s connection to Schwartz should concern the organization (not to mention Schwartz clients – why did Middleton accept less than the max so quickly?). In addition to Vaughn, Schwartz represents current Bucks Carter-Williams, Bayless and Tyler Ennis.
But whatever reservations Bucks owners – including Kidd’s friend, Marc Lasry – had about empowering Kidd, it appears they’ve already gotten past them.
