St. Thomas Native Milt Newton Has A Job In The NBA Again! This Time As The Milwaukee Bucks Assistant General Manager

St. Thomas Native Milt Newton Has A Job In The NBA Again! This Time As The Milwaukee Bucks Assistant General Manager

St. Thomas Native Milt Newton Has A Job In The NBA Again! This Time As The Milwaukee Bucks Assistant General Manager

HIRED AGAIN: Veteran NBA executive Milt Newton of St. Thomas.

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MILWAUKEE — St. Thomas native Milt Newton has a job again in the NBA.

This time he will be the assistant general manager for the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks announced multiple additions to their staff on Wednesday, with the most notable being veteran NBA executive Newton joining the team.

Newton has 13 years of front-office experience, including three seasons as the general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2013-’16. He replaces Justin Zanik, who left to join the Utah Jazz after Jon Horst was elevated to GM in June.

During Newton’s run as general manager of the Timberwolves, he constructed most of what is now considered an up-and-coming team in the Western Conference. He sent Kevin Love to Cleveland in 2014, netting No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins, who would become the 2015 rookie of the year. He also selected Karl-Anthony Towns with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft. Towns became the 2016 rookie of the year.

However, part of building that strong, young core involved the Wolves struggling during Newton’s time as the GM.

Minnesota, which entered a rebuilding mode after the Love trade, compiled an 85-161 record during Newton’s three seasons before he was let go in May 2016. The franchise made major changes to its front-office structure, bringing in Tom Thibodeau as head coach and president of basketball operations as well as naming Scott Layden as GM.

In the Bucks front office, Newton is joined by additions David Mincberg, who will serve as the Bucks’ director of basketball strategy; Tony Bollier, director of basketball operations; and scout Ronald Dupree.

“Our basketball operations department continues to take shape and I’m very excited about the additions of Milt, David, Tony and Ronald,”  Horst said in a statement. “Together they bring a wealth of experience that will serve our organization extremely well. I look forward to working with them as we continue to assemble a championship-caliber organization.”

Mincberg joins the Bucks after five years with the Memphis Grizzlies, where he was team counsel and director of scouting. Bollier most recently was the manager of player personnel and coach relations for the G League. Dupree, who played at LSU and 11 years professionally ending in 2014, is coming off a season as an assistant coach at Nevada-Reno.

The Bucks also added Frank Johnson as an assistant coach. Johnson played 10 seasons in the NBA from 1981-1994 and served as the coach of the Phoenix Suns for 134 games spanning three seasons from 2002-’03.

“Frank is an excellent teacher and brings great enthusiasm for the game,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said in a statement. “He understands the hard work necessary to be successful in the NBA and I know he will fit in well with our terrific coaching staff.”