Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst has reportedly selected Mike Budenholzer to be the franchises 16th head coach on Wednesday.
The Milwaukee Bucks seem to have found their next head coach. On Wednesday, reports surfaced that former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer was in town having breakfast with Giannis Antetokounmp and Khris Middleton. This was a day after Budenholzer meet with the Bucks brass in New York City.
Late Wednesday night news broke that the Bucks were agreeing to terms with Budenholzer to be their 16th head coach in franchise history.
Reports are that they agreed on a four-year deal:
Mike Budenholzer has reached an agreement to become the Milwaukee Bucks coach, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 16, 2018
Budenholzer was one of two finalists for the job, with the other being San Antonio Spurs assistant Ettore Messina. Budenholzer was the Atlanta Hawks head coach for the past five seasons. Previously, he spent 17 years as an assistant under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.
He was the Coach of the Year following the 2014-2015 season where he lead the Hawks to 60 wins in his second season at the helm. He has a successful track record in developing young talent. He was able to get the most out of players such as Jeff Teague, DeMarre Carroll, and Kyle Korver, so why wouldn’t he be able to develop Malcolm Brogdon, Thon Maker, Middleton and Antetokounmpo even further?
Around the league, Budenholzer is known to have high basketball acumen. His teams in Atlanta were both efficient and disciplined on both ends of the court. Something Bucks fans and teams have not had or seen in quite some time.
Most fans will be probably be split on this hire. He comes from a winning organization in San Antonio and had success in his only head coaching stint in Atlanta. He satisfies the requirement that the next head coach comes from an organization with a winning background. He is not a young up and coming assistant coach, but his brief head coaching experience demonstrates he has the ability to succeed with a star like Giannis.
As far as who will be on his coaching staff, there is one name is familiar to Bucks fans, and that would be his top assistant Darvin Ham.
Expect top assistant Darvin Ham to join Mike Budenholzer in Milwaukee, per sources, along with most, if not all, of his former Hawks coaching staff.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) May 17, 2018
Now that general manager Jon Horst has hired his head coach he can move on to one of his other major off-season decisions. The next one being Jabari Parker. With the Bucks having Budenholzer have breakfast with Antetokounmpo and Middleton, they have essentially shown their cards as to who they will build the team around. What that means for Parker is anyone’s guess.
Stay tuned to Dairyland Express for future Bucks off-season developments.