Budenholzer Was First Choice In Toronto?
Mike Budenholzer, who agreed tonight to be the Bucks’ next head coach, was also the Raptors’ top choice, tweets Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet. Budenholzer met with Toronto’s front office on Monday, but no job offer was extended, relays ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Assistant coach Nick Nurse appears to be the current front-runner for the Raptors’ job, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link). Nurse has spent the past five seasons as part of former coach Dwane Casey’s staff.
Lewenberg describes him as a “forward, innovative thinker,” which is an important quality to the Toronto front office (Twitter link). He adds that there’s a good chance someone else will hire Nurse if the Raptors don’t make him their head coach.
Toronto seems very focused on internal candidates, Lewenberg notes, as fellow assistant Rex Kalamian is being considered for the opening, along with Jerry Stackhouse, head coach of Raptors 905 in the G League (Twitter link). Other than Budenholzer, no one from outside the organization has interviewed for the position.
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Bucks To Hire Mike Budenholzer
7:08pm: Darvin Ham, Budenholzer’s top assistant in Atlanta, will accompany him to Milwaukee and may be joined by the rest of the staff, according to David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link).
6:47pm: Budenholzer will sign a four-year contract, Wojnarowski tweets.
6:17pm: Mike Budenholzer has agreed to become the Bucks’ next coach, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Clues began to emerge over the past two days that Budenholzer was the top choice for the job. He met with team management and ownership yesterday, then had breakfast this morning with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.
Budenholzer spent the past five seasons as the head coach of the Hawks before parting ways with the franchise last month. Atlanta launched a rebuilding project this year after four straight playoff appearances and Budenholzer reportedly didn’t want to go through that process. He was 213-197 with the Hawks, including a 24-58 record this season.
He succeeds interim coach Joe Prunty, who took over the team when Jason Kidd was fired in January. Prunty, who compiled a 21-16 mark, was among the coaches who interviewed for the opening, along with Ettore Messina, Steve Clifford, Monty Williams, David Blatt, Becky Hammon and Jay Larranaga. Messina was also considered a finalist and met with Bucks ownership on Tuesday as well.
Budenholzer was among the most popular candidates on the market, getting permission from the Hawks to interview with the Suns and Knicks while he was still their coach. He also had an interview Monday with the Raptors, according to Wojnarowski, but Toronto didn’t make an offer.
The Bucks are the sixth team to fill a vacancy in what has been an active offseason for coaching changes. The Pistons, Raptors, and Magic are still in the market for head coaches. Keep up to date with all the developments with our 2018 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bucks Interviewing Zhaire Smith At Combine
- A ton of meetings will take place at the combine this week, so it’s likely not worth reading too much into each one, but here are a few early updates: The Pistons are meeting with Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Twitter link via Vince Ellis of The Detroit Press), the Bucks are interviewing Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith (Twitter link via Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times), the Timberwolves are interviewing Anfernee Simons (Twitter link via Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News), and the Knicks are meeting with Trae Young (link via Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News).
Latest On Bucks’ Head Coaching Search
Bucks stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton had breakfast today with head coaching candidate Mike Budenholzer in Milwaukee, league sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
While Budenholzer’s Wednesday sitdown with Antetokounmpo and Middleton probably isn’t as important as his Tuesday meeting with Bucks management and ownership, it’s certainly notable. The opportunity to coach Antetokounmpo is viewed as a prime selling point for the Bucks’ coaching position, so the fact that Budenholzer is getting to know the star forward is a sign of how serious a candidate he is for the job.
Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel made a similar point this afternoon, tweeting that he hasn’t heard about the Bucks bringing in any new finalists for their coaching vacancy. Milwaukee met with Budenholzer and Spurs assistant Ettore Messina on Tuesday, with team ownership represented at those meetings.
While it’s still possible that the Bucks will opt to hire Messina or bring in more finalists, all signs point to Budenholzer being the club’s top choice. The former Hawks head coach has also received interest from the Raptors or the Bucks, so it remains to be seen where he’ll land, but Budenholzer looks like a prime candidate to replace Joe Prunty in Milwaukee.
Budenholzer Believed To Prefer Bucks' Job To Others
- There’s a general belief that the Milwaukee head coaching job is the one Mike Budenholzer wants most, but that’s not a lock, according to Stein, who suggests that the former Hawks coach will have multiple meetings with both the Bucks and Raptors. Stein writes that Budenholzer “could well have preferences that outsiders aren’t privy to” after those meetings. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has said that the Raptors opened talks with Budenholzer over the weekend and continued those conversations on Monday, while Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca tweeted today that Toronto has already met with Budenholzer.
Ettore Messina Gets Second Meeting With Bucks
Mike Budenholzer isn’t the only head coaching candidate who will get a second meeting with the Bucks today. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), Spurs assistant Ettore Messina will also meet with the Bucks today in New York. Both interviews will include team ownership, Wojnarowski notes.
[RELATED: 2018 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
Messina, a longtime coach overseas, was hired by the Spurs in 2014 following his second stint as CSKA Moscow’s head coach. While San Antonio has no shortage of well-regarded assistants, it was Messina who took over as the club’s head coach in the playoffs last month, following the death of Gregg Popovich‘s wife Erin.
Messina also received consideration from the Hornets this spring for their head coaching job, but Charlotte ultimately opted for another Spurs assistant, James Borrego. The Bucks, who also met with Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, had planned to interview Borrego during their first round of meetings before the Hornets hired him.
Besides Messina, Hammon, and Budenholzer, Milwaukee’s first round of interviewees included Joe Prunty, Steve Clifford, Monty Williams, David Blatt, and Jay Larranaga. So far, Budenholzer and Messina are the only known finalists who will meet with team ownership.
Hawks Notes: Pierce, Defense, Schroder
During his introductory press conference on Monday, new Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce talked about his passion for defense, and indicated that he’ll be looking for defensive-minded assistants as he starts putting together his staff in Atlanta, as Charles Odum of The Associated Press writes.
“If we weren’t doing this press conference right now, I’d probably have these guys doing some defensive drills,” Pierce said, referring to the Hawks players who attended the presser. “That’s who I am.”
In addition to the four Hawks who were in attendance on Monday, Sixers forward Robert Covington – who was in Atlanta visiting a family member – showed up to support the former Philadelphia assistant. Covington had nothing but praise for Pierce, calling him a “great coach” who is “absolutely” ready for his first head coaching job.
Here’s more out of Atlanta:
- During Monday’s presser, Hawks GM Travis Schlenk said that he and Mike Budenholzer remain on good terms, despite the former head coach’s departure from Atlanta. “I talked with [Budenholzer] a couple days ago,” Schlenk said, per Odum. “No hard feelings at all.”
- In a Q&A with Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Pierce spoke at length about the defensive strategies he employed in Philadelphia, which he’ll bring to the Hawks.
- Dennis Schroder, who led the Hawks in points (19.4 PPG) and assists (6.2 APG) last season, made comments this week at a press conference in Germany that made it sound like he wouldn’t mind moving on from Atlanta. Schroder said he could imagine playing for teams like the Bucks and Pacers (Twitter link via David Hein), adding that he doesn’t want to keep finishing “second-to-last in the Eastern Conference” (link via Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net). Schroder is under contract for three more years at $15.5MM annually, but wasn’t drafted or extended by the current management group, so he could emerge as a trade candidate for the Hawks.
Jay Larranaga Met With Bucks About HC Job
We can add another name to the list of candidates for the Bucks’ head coaching job, as Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) reports that Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga met with Milwaukee on Friday. The meeting took place between the end of the second round and the start of Boston’s third-round series against Cleveland.
The Bucks interviewed several candidates last week as part of their first round of meetings for the team’s head coaching vacancy. In addition to interviewing interim coach Joe Prunty for the permanent job, Milwaukee also spoke to Ettore Messina, Steve Clifford, David Blatt, Becky Hammon, Monty Williams, and Mike Budenholzer.
The Bucks reportedly intend to narrow down their search to three or four finalists, potentially bringing back those finalists to meet with ownership at some point this week. So far, the only candidate known to get a second meeting is Budenholzer, who is believed to be the frontrunner. He’ll meet with team ownership on Tuesday.
[RELATED: 2018 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
If Larranaga doesn’t land the Bucks’ job, it will be the fourth time this spring he has interviewed for a head coaching position and seen that team hire someone else. Previously, he met with the Hawks, Hornets, and Knicks. He was believed to be a finalist for the Hornets’ job before Charlotte chose James Borrego.
Having been considered in the past for head coaching jobs with the the Celtics, Sixers, and Grizzlies, Larranaga would seem to be due for an opportunity to run an NBA team of his own. Still, if Larranaga isn’t hired by another team this offseason, the Celtics will certainly be happy to have him back, as he has been a key part of Boston’s staff since 2012.
Latest On Bucks, Mike Budenholzer
11:57am: Wojnarowski has tweeted a correction, writing that the Bucks aren’t discussing an ownership stake for Budenholzer after all. Woj’s story, which has now been updated, simply indicates that Budenholzer’s second meeting with the team will include ownership, as Velazquez indicated earlier.
11:29am: After reporting earlier this morning that Mike Budenholzer has emerged as the focus of the Bucks’ and Raptors’ head coaching searches, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has relayed another interesting tidbit within his full report on Budenholzer’s situation. According to Wojnarowski, the Bucks are working to re-engage Budenholzer in talks that “will include an ownership stake.”
Such an agreement wouldn’t be unprecedented — Jason Kidd, for instance, owned a small stake in the Nets when he coached the club several years ago. Still, it’s an interesting factor to consider if the Bucks and Raptors end up competing to hire Budenholzer. An ownership stake in Milwaukee would certainly increase the appeal of that job.
Before the Bucks began conducting head coaching interviews, a report indicated that Budenholzer and Monty Williams were viewed as the potential favorites. According to Wojnarowski, Budenholzer maintained his status as the frontrunner following the opening round of interviews last week — Woj’s report doesn’t mention Williams.
While there’s no indication that he has received a formal offer from Milwaukee at this point, Budenholzer is scheduled to meet with the Bucks for a second time on Tuesday, with team ownership to be represented at that meeting, as Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details.
Besides Budenholzer and Williams, the Bucks also met with Ettore Messina, Steve Clifford, David Blatt, Becky Hammon, and interim coach Joe Prunty last week.
Budenholzer Receiving Strong Interest From Bucks, Raptors
9:34am: The Bucks will meet with Budenholzer for a second time on Tuesday, reports Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). According to Velazquez, Bucks ownership will be involved in the meeting.
9:00am: Former Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer has emerged as the focus of the Bucks’ and Raptors’ coaching searches, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Budenholzer has been considered a strong candidate for Milwaukee’s head coaching job for much of the year, with a report in early May indicating that he and Monty Williams are potential favorites to replace interim coach Joe Prunty. Budenholzer was reportedly one of several candidates to meet with the Bucks last week, and the team intends to re-engage with him early this week, sources tell Wojnarowski.
As for the Raptors, Budenholzer was the first outside candidate to surface in their coaching search, shortly after they parted ways with Dwane Casey. Wojnarowski reports that Toronto is “opening” conversations with the former Atlanta coach.
The Bucks and Raptors are two of four teams currently seeking a new head coach, joining the Pistons and Magic. While Budenholzer hasn’t been linked to the Orlando job at all, he’s said to be on Detroit’s radar. A source confirmed to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press that Budenholzer is “under consideration” by the Pistons.