Mike

Budenholzer

Budenholzer, who the Bucks fired at the end of the 2022-23 season, is back in the NBA head coaching game. He fills the void left by Frank Vogel, who the Suns fired after one season at the helm. Budnholzer did lead the Bucks to an NBA title in 2021, but multiple postseason appearances ended disappointingly. Regardless of who the Suns hire, the front office has to figure out the point guard situation ahead of next season.

The Suns officially relieved Monty Williams of his head coaching duties Saturday night, and this is an attractive job, to say the least. While there are questions to be answered regarding the futures of Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, the Suns still have Devin Booker and Kevin Durant to build around. Nurse and Budenholzer have both won NBA titles in the past, while Young’s name has been a hot one within coaching circles. It’s important to note that Haynes reported that the Suns are formulating a list, so Nurse, Budenholzer, and Young should not be viewed as finalists at this point in the process.

It appears that Milwaukee has pinned their first round loss to the Heat on Coach Bud. After they finished the season with the NBA’s best record, they lost 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs. They were without Giannis Antetokounmpo for most of Game 1 and all of Games 2 and 3, which certainly contributed to their early exit. There were also reports that Budenholzer’s brother passed away during the series. The Bucks will now be the most attractive job opening in the league.

Even with Giannis Antetokounmpo missing two games of the Bucks’ five-game series with the Heat, getting bounced in the first round isn’t going to sit well in Milwaukee. In his report, Charania cited a “lack of coaching adjustments, especially defensively” as the reason for uncertainty. Budenholzer has two seasons remaining on his contract, and this could be a summer of transition for the franchise. Brook Lopez will be an unrestricted free agent, and Khris Middleton has a player option for next season. This is definitely a situation worth keeping an eye on.

Darvin Ham will serve as the acting head coach while Budenholzer is on the shelf. We will keep a eye out for more potential positive tests from Milwaukee in the coming days.

Budenholzer just led the Bucks to their first NBA championship in 50 years and he will now be locked into Milwaukee through the 2024-2025 season. The extension for Bud has been the talk of the offseason in Milwaukee and now they can take a deep breath and smell their championship roses in peace.

This will be the second straight day that the Timberwolves will play during the afternoon. The start time is being moved up in the aftermath of the police shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis, and the resulting protests.

“The NBA investigated an apparent agreement between the Bucks and Bogdan Bogdanovic in free agency, finding that early discussions did occur and constituting conduct detrimental to the league,” Shams adds. This happens way more then people realize with so many reported deals within minutes of the opening of free agency, but it’s not like this punishment is going to set the Bucks back.

Players selected in the second-round can eventually develop into solid NBA guys, but they rarely contribute much in their rookie season, particularly when selected so late. They’ll use some of these second-round picks to help fill out their roster in a cost-effective way, but these guys will be non-factors in fantasy hoops.

Budenholzer has a 116-39 record in two seasons with the Bucks, but has come up short in the playoffs in both. He was a finalist for the Coach of the Year Award for a reason, but his inability to quickly make adjustments this postseason was his downfall this time around. If the Bucks can add a playmaker and some more shooting this fall, they will like their chances of taking that next step.