Report: Mike Budenholzer Hired as New Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach

The long-awaited coaching search for the Milwaukee Bucks is finally over. Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the Milwaukee Bucks are officially set to hire Mike Budenholzer, the former coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Atlanta Hawks. Budenholzer left the organization following this past season, the worst of his coaching career thus far as the Hawks entered the NBA’s tankathon sweepstakes finishing at a 24-58 mark.

Coach Bud won the Coach of the Year award following his stellar 2014-15 season, when he led the Hawks to a 60-22 record after just a 38-44 mark in his inaugural coaching season. Overall, in his five seasons, he posted a 213-197 record, good for a .520 winning percentage. Much of his time there coincided with Al Horford and Paul Millsap’s emergence as strong frontcourt pieces, helping lead Atlanta to a top-five defense in four of his first five seasons there. Following the ousting of Danny Ferry from the Atlanta Hawks front office, Budenholzer was promoted to President of Basketball Operations for the franchise. Following the 2016-17 season, he resigned from that position.

If there’s one thing we can be certain of, it’s that fans will be divided on the hire, as they would with anyone. Everyone had their pet favorites, but the reality is few of us can predict how competently a coach will perform in any given situation. For those of you hoping for a Spurs assistant, you basically got it. Bud spent 17 seasons in San Antonio before getting his shot in Atlanta. For those hoping to get one of the promising young assistants out there, I’m sorry for your loss. Stay tuned to Brew Hoop for more reaction to the new man steering Giannis’ ship.

Update:

It appears Bud’s deal extends for four years, per Woj.