(MILWAUKEE BUCKS) – The Milwaukee Bucks will lift the lid on the 2026 – 27 NBA season on Wednesday, Oct. 21, against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena.
Milwaukee has won its first road game of the season in three of its last four campaigns, and Wednesday’s game marks just the second time the Bucks have opened on the road since the 2021 -22 season. Following Wednesday’s matchup, the Bucks will return to Fiserv Forum to host the Chicago Bulls in their
first home game of the season.
Bucks head coach Taylor Jenkins begins his first season at the helm after becoming the 19th head coach in franchise history on April 30, 2026. Jenkins most recently spent six seasons as the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies from 2019 -25, where he posted a franchise -high 250 wins and 250 – 214 (.539) record overall. The 2021 -22 NBA Coach of the Year ru nner -up led the Grizzlies to the postseason three times, including a trip to the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals. This season marks the beginning of Jenkins’ second stint in Milwaukee after he previously served as an assistant coach for the Bucks during the 2018 -19 campaign.
Milwaukee’s two First Round selections from the 2026 NBA Draft, Brayden Burries (10th) and Nate Ament (13th), enter their rookie NBA seasons after standout freshman campaigns at Arizona and Tennessee, respectively. Burries led the Wildcats with 16.1 points per game (T – 15th in Big 12) and earned 2025 – 26 All -Big 12 First Team and 2025 – 26 Big 12 All – Freshman Team honors, while Ament ranked 15th in the SEC with 16.7 pints per game and was selected to the 2025 – 26 All – SEC Second Team and 2025 -26 SEC All – Freshman Team.
Milwaukee -native and former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro begins his first season with the Bucks after spending his first seven NBA seasons with the Miami Heat. Herro was traded from Miami to Milwaukee on July 6 alongside Kasparas Jakučionis, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kel’el Ware as part of the trade that also sent former Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis Jr. to the Heat. Herro, a 2025 NBA All – Star, has posted a double -digit scoring average in each of his seven NBA seasons, including averaging 20+ points in his last five consecutive seasons.
Coming off a breakout 2025 -26 season where he finished with the fifth -most votes for the 2025 -26 NBA Most Improved Player award, Ryan Rollins returns for his fourth sea son with the Bucks and fifth overall in the NBA. Rollins posted his first career 1,000 -point season in 2025 -26 and set career -highs in nearly every statistical category including ppg (17.3), apg (5.6), rpg (4.6), spg (1.5) and mpg (32.1) while playing in a career -best 74 games and making a career -high 67 starts.
Injuries: Washington will play with out AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall pick in the most recent NBA draft. He sprained an ankle in the team’s pre-season finale last Friday.
The Bucks will probably be without Nate Ament who also has an ankle injury.
Game time: Tonight’s game tips off at 6 p.m.
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