The Milwaukee Bucks have already lost one assistant coach this offseason. Darvin Ham was hired as the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month. Over the last few days, another Bucks assistant, Charles Lee, was named as a candidate for a few other head coaching vacancies. On Saturday, Shams Charania broke the story that Milwaukee had promoted Lee to associate head coach.
Sources: Bucks are promoting assistant Charles Lee to associate head coach under Mike Budenholzer. Lee has been a head coaching candidate for several teams over the past two seasons, and remains a candidate for the Jazz’s current opening. Milwaukee prioritized a new deal for Lee.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 11, 2022
Charles Lee Is One of the Hottest Names in NBA Coaching Circles
Charles Lee went undrafted by the NBA when he graduated from Bucknell. Despite playing for the San Antonio Spurs in their summer league and preseason, he did not make the team. Afterwards, he played professionally in Israel, Belgium, and Germany.
In 2014, the Atlanta Hawks hired him as an assistant coach on Mike Budenholzer’s staff. From Day One, Lee established himself as one of the best assistants in the NBA. Ironically, the job that Lee is being considered for, the Utah Jazz head coaching job, was vacated by Quin Snyder. It was the same Snyder that Lee replaced on Budenholzer’s staff in Atlanta.
When Mike Budenholzer was hired by the Milwaukee Bucks, Lee (along with Darvin Ham) followed him. Over the past three seasons, ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz has included Lee on his list of names NBA circles are talking about as potential head coaches.
The following is an excerpt of what Arnovitz wrote concerning Charles Lee earlier this year:
“[Charles Lee] has established himself as a multitool coach who projects confidence, emotional and tactical intelligence and affability. Colleagues marvel at his ability to relate to everyone, be it a two-way player (Lee played professionally overseas for four seasons) to an owner (he worked as a trader on Wall Street).
“A number of executives and coaches say that had Lee played one minute in the NBA (or had NBA bloodlines), he’d be gainfully employed as a head coach today. Such is the case in the NBA circa 2022, where owners and front offices increasingly favor those who have an NBA entry on Basketball Reference.”
The Bucks Still Have an Opening on Coaching Staff
The Milwaukee Bucks hope that the promotion to associate head coach will convince Charles Lee to stay, at least for now. There is little doubt that he will be a head coach someday. However, the Bucks still need to fill the position left by Darvin Ham when he took the Lakers job.
I hear Quin Snyder is available…
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