According to NBA insiders Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Eric Nehm of The Athletic, Damian Lillard struggled with how the Milwaukee Bucks functioned offensively under head coach Adrian Griffin.
The Bucks fired Griffin today despite being 30-13 on the season. They are in second place in the Eastern Conference standings.
“Along the way, league sources say, Lillard has spent much of this season struggling with the way the Bucks function on the offensive end,” Charania, Amick and Nehm wrote. “While he had remained patient with coaches and teammates, there was an inevitable pressure on Griffin from the organization to make the most of Lillard’s talent in the kind of way that validates the choice to part ways with Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen and three first-round picks in order to land him.”
Lillard is averaging 25.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.2 blocks this season while shooting 42.7% from the field, 35.1% from beyond the arc and 92.2% from the free-throw line. Griffin’s inability to create more on-court harmony among his top players on the offensive end remained a point of contention.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Adrian Griffin, Milwaukee Bucks Updates
“According to team sources, the issues plaguing Griffin’s early tenure ranged from putting together strong schemes on both ends of the floor for the Bucks to fulfill their championship potential to successfully communicating his vision to his players for them to execute it on the floor,” Charania, Amick and Nehm wrote.
The Bucks are second in the league in points per game. They’re averaging 124.6 points. However, Milwaukee is 25th in points per game allowed, allowing 120.5 points a night.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Adrian Griffin, Milwaukee Bucks Updates
Lillard is shooting just 39.4% overall and 27.7% from 3 over his last 10 games. It will be interesting to see if the All-Star’s efficiency improves now that Griffin is gone.
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