Is Mike Budenholzer ready to be Hawks’ guide through the rebuild?
Mike Budenholzer has had a career filled with success, and now he will seek to coach the Atlanta Hawks through their first stint sans playoffs in a decade.
In his 4 seasons as the Atlanta Hawks head coach, Mike Budenholzer has made the playoffs each time, boasting a regular season record of 189-139, a .576-win ratio. This follows an 18-year career as an assistant coach to Gregg Popovich on the San Antonio Spurs. With 4 NBA Championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007) and an NBA Coach of the Year (2015) under his belt, Budenholzer will enter into his first season of uncertainty.
The only certainty about next season is that the Hawks will definitely see an end to their decade-long streak of consecutive playoff appearances. Budenholzer no longer has the core that led the team to a franchise record 60-win season; instead he now has to find a way to promote chemistry among his young squad. The trials and tribulations that come thereof will certainly test his ability through the next several years.
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Some believe that Budenholzer may be on the hot seat for next season, but Travis Schlenk was quick to dispel any such hearsay. He had the following to say about his head coach in an article featured on nba.com.
"“Bud’s been great. Building a relationship with Bud was very important to me. Once we started talking about the roster and where we are, Bud was completely in board with the plan and is excited about the challenge to get us back up and contend for a championship in a few years.”"
Mike Budenholzer recently ceded his position as president of basketball operations in May in order to focus more on his role as head coach. This gives Schlenk the ability to build the team as he sees fit, but it’s important that he and Budenholzer remain on the same page nonetheless.
With the rebuild set to last less than three years, Mike Budenholzer will hope to be able to adapt to this new challenge and find the kind of success that doesn’t garner a trophy or a ring, but one that instead provides Atlanta with the solid foundation for another decade of postseason appearances. Although championship hopes aren’t quite over the horizon, Hawk fans will still hope to look for Budenholzer’s presence on the sidelines when that time does arrive.