The contract details between the Milwaukee Bucks and newly anointed head coach Doc Rivers are emerging, and I have to be honest, this might be the worst contract in NBA history.
The deal is for a reported $40 million and runs through 2027, making it worth around $10 million a year, according to NBA insider Shams Charania.
That puts Rivers at fourth highest paid coach in terms of average annual value, above perennial coach of the year finalists like the Warriors’ Steve Kerr and the Pacers’ Rick Carlisle.
While Rivers does have a championship pedigree — his 2007-2008 Celtics championship makes him one of nine active head coaches to lead their teams to a title — it’s been 16 years since he hoisted the trophy, and the league is very different today. (RELATED: Milwaukee Bucks Hire Doc Rivers As Head Coach, And It Smells Like A Potential Bust In The Making: REPORT)
BOSTON – MAY 28: Head coach Doc Rivers and Ray Allen (L) of the Boston Celtics celebrate after the Celtics won 96-84 against the Orlando Magic in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2010 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden on May 28, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Jim Rogash/Getty Images
While Rivers deserves props for his efforts in Boston, with the big money he’s getting the question should be, “What have you done for me lately?” and the answer would be, “Not much.”
Rivers spent the last decade coaching extremely talented teams, first helming the Los Angeles Clippers from 2013-2020, and then landing in Philly to lead the 76ers from 2020 until he was fired in 2023 after an epic playoff collapse. (RELATED: Struggling Washington Wizards Move On From Head Coach Wes Unseld Jr. Mid-Season)
Epic collapses have been somewhat of a theme in the latter years of his coaching career. I know firsthand just how ineffective he can be after watching him crash my precious Clippers into the ground all those years.
Like virtually every team he’s managed, the Clippers of the 2010s were uber-talented. The high flying combination of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, paired with point god Chris Paul, led the league to dub the team “Lob City,” and oh what a team it was.
The Glorious Days Of Lob City
Yet despite the glut of talent, which included big name role players like Jamal Crawford and JJ Redick, Rivers never managed to get them out of the conference semifinals.
OAKLAND, CA – DECEMBER 25: Head Coach Doc Rivers of the Los Angeles Clippers comes out on the court to get Blake Griffin #32 who was ejected for his second flagrant foul against the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter at ORACLE Arena on December 25, 2013 in Oakland, California. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
In 2015, they suffered perhaps the most glaring playoff collapse of the millennium when, after taking a 3-1 lead over the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Semi-finals, Doc’s squad completely shut down and lost the last three games to get bounced.
Even when the Clippers completely cleared house after the 2018-2019 season, shipping out Paul and Griffin and bringing in superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Rivers still couldn’t get it done, losing again in the conference semis in 2020. (RELATED: Soft: Mavericks Star Luka Doncic Has Heckling Fan Removed From Game, Complains About Media Coverage After)
Rivers was fired, and the very next year his replacement Ty Lue led the Clippers to the Western Conference Finals in his first season, farther than Doc ever got them in his seven years.
His Philly tenure went no better, as his ‘6ers were bounced in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in all three years of his leadership. His final year ended with yet another epic collapse, and reports emerged that many of his star players hated him. Star guard James Harden reportedly refused to play for him again.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – DECEMBER 13: James Harden #1 and Head coach Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers speak during the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Wells Fargo Center on December 13, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Fast forward to today and his player-unfriendly reputation is already affecting his new team.
One NBA insider says Matisse Thybulle, a potential trade target for the second place Bucks, would veto a trade to Milwaukee in light of the Rivers hire.
Worth keeping in mind: Matisse Thybulle (mentioned in here as Bucks trade target) has veto rights over any deal for the first year because he had an RFA offer sheet matched.
I don’t think he’s signing off on a trade to Milwaukee in light of the coaching hire they just made. https://t.co/E9f6zddyv6
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) January 24, 2024
Not only are they reportedly paying the dude an absurd amount of money, on top of the fact that they’re still paying the last two guys they fired, but he’s preventing Milwaukee from acquiring talent.
Who knows, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Doc actually meshes well with Giannis. Maybe he’s learned from his mistakes and he’ll be less abrasive and embrace the talent he has rather than try to shoehorn them into a rigid system. But if I was a betting man I’d say at some point before 2027, the Bucks will be adding Doc to the list of fired coaches on their payroll.