Reports: Bucks to meet with Hammon, Blatt this week

The Milwaukee Bucks are expected to interview San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt and potentially a third candidate for their head coaching vacancy this week, according to multiple reports.

The Bucks interviewed Spurs vice president of basketball operations Monty Williams for the job on Thursday, and they have also met with Spurs assistant Ettore Messina. Former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer has been mentioned as a potential candidate. General manager Jon Horst said last week that interim head coach Joe Prunty, who took over after Jason Kidd was fired last season, will also be part of the process.

Per multiple reports, the pool of candidates will be narrowed to three or four after the first round of interviews is complete, and a second round of meetings will be conducted with ownership.

ESPN reported last week that Hammon isn't considered a frontline candidate for the job, but she was among the candidates for Milwaukee's GM position last June before Horst was hired.

The NBA's first full-time, paid female assistant coach, Hammon would also become the first woman to interview for a head coach opening.

The 41-year-old former WNBA star was hired as an assistant by the Spurs prior to the 2014-15 season. Hammon has coached the Spurs' Las Vegas Summer League team, leading the group to a title in 2015, and became the first woman to be part of an All-Star coaching staff at the 2016 event.

Spurs forward Pau Gasol strongly supported Hammon in a piece for the Players' Tribune published Friday, writing: "I'm telling you: Becky Hammon can coach. I'm not saying she can coach pretty well. I'm not saying she can coach enough to get by. I'm not saying she can coach almost at the level of the NBA's male coaches. I'm saying: Becky Hammon can coach NBA basketball. Period."

Blatt has served as head coach of Darüssafaka of the Turkish Super League since 2016 after one and a half seasons leading the Cavaliers. After leading Cleveland to the NBA Finals in 2015, Blatt was fired despite a 30-11 start to the 2015-16 campaign, with then-interim head coach Tyronn Lue guiding the Cavs to the NBA championship later that season.

Williams went 173-221 as the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans head coach from 2010-15 between stints with the Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder as an assistant. He joined the Spurs' front office in 2016.

Prunty led the Bucks to a 21-16 record following the firing of Kidd in late January. Milwaukee was eliminated from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics in a seven-game Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

--Field Level Media