Mike Budenholzer and the Hawks have mutually agreed to part ways, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (story).
As Luke Adams opined last week, there was a belief that it may be difficult for Budenholzer to return to Atlanta after interviewing for jobs with the Knicks and Suns, and it appears that both the Hawks and Budenholzer have come to the same conclusion.
Hawks GM Travis Schlenk confirmed to Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the two parties have moved on, saying he “feels like it’s in the best interest of both parties.” The Hawks have also officially announced the move.
It is still unknown whether Budenholzer will retain any of the $13-14MM remaining on his contract with Atlanta, but it may not matter, as Stefan Bondy of the Daily News tweets that it’s possible Budenholzer may already have his next job lined up — perhaps with the Knicks.
If so, it would be a win-win for both Budenholzer and the Knicks, as Budenholzer reportedly views New York as his top destination, while the Knicks would be gaining a well-respected leader in NBA circles.
Speaking to ESPN, Budenholzer said “I am grateful for the five years that I spent as coach of the Atlanta Hawks, and will always cherish the incredible contributions, commitment and accomplishments of the players that I was fortunate enough to work with here. From ownership to management, support staff to the community, I’ll look back with great pride on what we were able to achieve together with the Hawks.”
Budenholzer was awarded the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 2015 after a 60-win season and a trip to the Eastern Conference finals. He also won four NBA titles as a member of Gregg Popovich’s staff in San Antonio.
Looks like the Knicks might have their guy
As much as I hope you’re right, it’s the Knicks were talking about.
We’re.
Might?
Awful. One of the best coaches in the league and they will get nothing as compensation- other than having to not pay his salary it seems. Terrible. I get the Hawks went in a rebuilding direction and he didn’t like it- but a lot of it is due to his personnel moves when he was doing both coach and president of basketball operations duties that didn’t work (Dwight Howard instead of Horford, not getting anything for Millsap, etc.). He is an amazing basketball mind though and whoever gets him will instantly be much better for it.
I think you’re overthinking this. They like him but it doesn’t make sense to pay many millions to coach a rebuilding team. The Hawks are a business. It’s a financial decision.
The Hawks will be flushed with money, overpaying an above average coach is not the issue…Ego’s are the issue, unfortunately we will never escape ego’s in any profession
Bingo.
Couldn’t agree more with everything you said….’Not my guy’ mentality from Ownership and GM is playing a part, but also coach Bud’s ego being stripped of president role is in effect. Great coach leaving a potentially great situation and organization, makes absolutely no sense
Mike you are going to miss out on coaching one of the better teams next season. Prince and Collins will be really good, plus they might get Bamba in the draft or Bagley.
One of the better teams in the lottery
Collins has all the makings of a stretch 4 next season and might become a 14-15 ppg forward next season. Prince made strides and had a lot of big scoring games so expect him to become a 17-21 ppg scorer next season. The Hawks will shock a lot of people
Next season.
Reality is even average to bad players will score on a bad team that doesn’t have any other options.
If you consider Collins and Prince bad players I don’t know what you watched this past season. They were pretty darn good for young players.
One of the better teams in the G League.
Lol
Why leave before the lottery. Ayton and Doncic are game changers.
Shlenk will ruin the Hawks. Bring back Danny Ferry please.
HA! Schlenk is still making the right moves, and as for Ferry, he did not cut it in Cleveland, no excuses like DRose has.
Coach Bud is a great “have” but does not match the era. He got his guys rich! But those offers they got were too much to keep together.