Rick Carlisle Denies Interest in Bucks Head Coaching Job Amid Rumors

Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said he isn't going anywhere despite rumors connecting his name to the vacant Milwaukee Bucks position.

"Rumors that I have interest in the Milwaukee Bucks' job are completely inaccurate. I work for Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks," he said Wednesday, per Marc Stein of the New York Times.

This comes after Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times appeared on 105.7 FM The Fan in Milwaukee Tuesday and said: "The hottest name that nobody has talked about is Rick Carlisle...The word going around is that he is interested in the Bucks job, and if that's true, it would be a no-brainer. As far as front-runners, though, I'm hearing Mike Budenholzer and Monty Williams."

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was forceful in his denial of the rumor as well, calling it "absurd," per Mike Fisher of 247Sports.

While going to Milwaukee would give Carlisle the opportunity to compete for a spot in the playoffs with the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo after missing the postseason the last two years, the head coach has been with Dallas since 2008 and has a championship to go with seven playoff appearances.

He also didn't sound like someone who was going to leave when discussing his situation with Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News in March:

"But I'm not going to bail on my owner who has been so good to me. And the other part of this is that this is a challenge that I've never been a part of, and that's to truly rebuild a team. Yeah, you take a lot of losses. That part is no fun. But to accomplish this, which is going to take time, is going to be a difficult task and has to be handled the right way. But when we get there, it will be one of the most meaningful things that I've been involved with."

Sefko noted Carlisle is signed through 2022, which means the Mavericks offer him some long-term security as well.

Dallas isn't in the best position in the daunting Western Conference looking ahead to the 2018-19 campaign, but there is reason for optimism moving forward. Dennis Smith Jr. looked impressive for large stretches of his rookie season, and a 24-58 record sets the team up for an ideal draft pick.

Tankathon projects the Mavericks to land the No. 3 overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft, which means they have the chance to add another talented young piece next to Smith.

To hear Carlisle tell it, he will be in Dallas to help mold the young pieces into a contender for the foreseeable future.