Mike Budenholzer

Hawks Optimistic They’ll Re-Sign Paul Millsap

May 18th, 2015 at 1:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks are quietly optimistic about their chances to sign Paul Millsap when he hits free agency this summer, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today says on the A to Z podcast (audio link at 21:31 mark; hat tip to fellow USA Today scribe Sam Amick, on Twitter). Zillgitt and Amick implied in a January podcast that the sides had mutual interest in a return, and that jibed with comments that Millsap and acting GM Mike Budenholzer made earlier in the season. There is no such confidence from Atlanta with fellow soon-to-be unrestricted free agent DeMarre Carroll, as Zillgitt details, though there’s no indication that Carroll is leaning toward playing elsewhere, either.

Budenholzer said before this season that the team wanted to keep Millsap, and even though most of the 30-year-old’s numbers have either declined or held steady, it would seem surprising if the coach/executive’s stance had changed, particularly given Atlanta’s rousing success this year. Still, there’s uncertainty about whether Budenholzer will continue to have the final say with Tony Ressler leading a group that finalized a deal to buy the franchise last month, pending NBA approval. Millsap, a DeAngelo Simmons client, said in November that he intended to look at his options this summer but made it clear that remaining with the Hawks was his top choice.

Millsap signed a two-year, $19MM deal with Atlanta in 2013 and turned down the team’s offer of a four-year, $36MM contract with the thought that he’d have a better chance to secure a more lucrative deal this summer than he would two years from now, according to Zillgitt. It’s not clear whether Millsap is indeed better off hitting free agency this year, since the salary cap is projected to spike to $108MM by the summer of 2017, but it nonetheless suggests that Millsap is ready to cash in after having spent the past two seasons as a relative bargain.

The Hawks have Early Bird rights on Millsap and Carroll, so they won’t be able to go all the way to the max to re-sign either of them without using cap space to do so. Atlanta can go as high as $16.625MM with Millsap via Early Bird, while the most they could give Carroll using those rights will be 104.5% of this season’s average player salary, a figure that won’t be known until the end of the July Moratorium but which figures to come in around $6MM.

Mike Budenholzer Wins Coach Of The Year

April 21st, 2015 at 9:04am CST by Chuck Myron

Mike Budenholzer has won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award, the league announced. The Hawks bench boss edged first-year Warriors head man Steve Kerr for the honor. Bucks coach Jason Kidd finished a distant third.

Budenholzer took an injury-hit club that finished 38-44 in the regular season to a seventh game against the top-seeded Pacers last season, a playoff performance that foreshadowed what was to come in 2014/15. The Hawks zoomed to the top of the Eastern Conference with a 17-0 January, and they won 19 games in a row, the fifth-longest single-season winning streak in NBA history. Atlanta accomplished those feats and won 60 games without a player widely considered a superstar, and only Al Horford, who makes $12MM, earning as much as $10MM this season.

The success that Budenholzer had on the bench was even more impressive considering the turmoil surrounding the franchise. Controlling owner Bruce Levenson self-reported a racially-charged email and decided to sell the team, and GM Danny Ferry has been on a leave of absence in the wake of his own racially insensitive remarks, leaving Budenholzer as the acting GM in his place. Budenholzer is up for Executive of the Year honors as well, though Hoops Rumors learned that it’s displeased some other executives around the league who wanted the chance to vote for Ferry.

Still, there’s no denying Budenholzer’s qualifications for Coach of the Year in just his second season as an NBA head man. None of the top four finishers, including fourth-place vote-getter Brad Stevens, have more than two years of NBA coaching experience. Fifth on the list is the long-tenured Gregg Popovich, under whom Budenholzer served as an assistant before taking the Hawks job. Budenholzer, Kerr, Kidd, Popovich and Tom Thibodeau were the coaches who received first-place votes. Media members cast the ballots, and the full results are here.

Southeast Notes: Hawks, Harris, Dragic

April 12th, 2015 at 7:01pm CST by Will Joseph

Hawks coach and head of basketball operations Mike Budenholzer credited Atlanta GM Danny Ferry as the primary creator of the Eastern Conference’s only 60-win team, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com writes. Budenholzer — instead of Ferry — was nominated by the Hawks for the Executive of the Year award.

“Anyone who has followed the Hawks for the last two or three years knows that Danny Ferry is the executive that’s most responsible for the makeup of our team,” Budenholzer said.

Ferry, who pulled the trigger on most of the moves that set up the Hawks’ current roster, took an indefinite leave of absence in September, shortly after his insensitive remarks about Luol Deng became public. Since then, Budenholzer has handled the day-to-day management of the team with with assistant GM Wes Wilcox and others.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Magic GM Rob Hennigan says the team “intends” to re-sign Tobias Harris, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, regardless of the cost, Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel writes. Last week, Harris said he and his representatives haven’t spoken about the idea of accepting a qualifying offer worth nearly $4.434MM this summer. The forward, who played high school basketball on Long Island, has been linked to the Knicks in rumors. Before the season, Schmitz adds, Hennigan wouldn’t pay Harris near max money, but Hennigan is now telling the league he’ll essentially match any offer.
Goran Dragic, who has a player option for 2015/16, says he will start to weigh his options once the Heat’s season ends, Shandel Richardson of the Sun Sentinel writes. Dragic previously said he planned to hit free agency this summer. “The last three, four weeks were so crazy,” Dragic said. “Everything was important for us. I tried to get my body right. I didn’t have time to think about [free agency]. That’s not fair to my teammates to think about the future. Right now, I’m part of this team. I give everything what I got on the court. We still got two games left. I’m still not thinking about that.” Dragic hinted that staying in Miami would seem to be the best option. “I’m a free agent,” Dragic said. “I like this organization. Hopefully, I can stay here and try to have a good season next year.”

Hawks Executive Of Year Choice Irks Some GMs

April 11th, 2015 at 1:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks have nominated Mike Budenholzer, and not Danny Ferry, for the Executive of the Year award, reports Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a move that’s displeased some executives around the league, Hoops Rumors has learned. Budenholzer has been doubling as coach and head of basketball operations for the team since Ferry, Atlanta’s GM, went on an indefinite leave of absence in September, shortly after the revelation of racially insensitive remarks Ferry made about Luol Deng. Still, most of the moves that set up the Eastern Conference leading roster came under Ferry’s watch.

Executives vote for the award winner from among their ranks. There’s no place on the ballot for write-in candidates, a league source told Hoops Rumors, adding that some GMs who wanted the chance to vote for Ferry have spoken about abstaining from the vote as a silent protest of sorts.

Many people around the league feel as though Ferry would have been a shoo-in for the award, Vivlamore writes. Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors profiled Ferry’s Executive of the Year candidacy last month. The GM’s future with the organization is unclear, though Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote in October that Ferry was not expected to return. His fate ultimately appears up to whomever controls the team once it’s sold, as Hawks ownership has put 100% of the franchise on the market. One of the current owners, Michael Gearon Jr., reportedly pressed for Ferry’s dismissal, though Gearon doesn’t hold the controlling stake in the team. Legendary Hawks player Dominique Wilkins, now a Hawks executive and prospective owner, hasn’t been enamored with Ferry ever since he tried to block the construction of a statue in Wilkins’ honor, as the Journal-Constitution’s Jeff Schultz recently wrote.

Budenholzer has replaced Ferry as the person with the final say in the front office this season, but the team has employed the same collaborative approach. Budenholzer, assistant GM Wes Wilcox and the rest of the basketball operations staff have all met to come to a consensus when the team has considered its moves this year, but that’s not unlike what took place when Ferry was present, as Vivlamore said in an interview with Hoops Rumors.

Latest On Hawks Controversy

October 3rd, 2014 at 1:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:57pm: Vivlamore clarifies in a full story that Levenson, Peskowitz and Foreman intend to sell their 50.1% of the club, but the reason the percentage of the team up for sale is not clear is because it’s unknown whether the Gearons or any of the other owners who hold minority shares intend to sell. It would be premature to target the end of the year for completion of the sale, Vivlamore adds, noting that the city of Atlanta has no authority over the sale of the team and little to do with the mechanics of the ownership transfer, in spite of Reed’s meetings with Silver, Levenson and others. There is indeed plenty of interest from potential buyers, but most are merely making inquiries about the sale process at this point and aren’t yet talking terms, Vivlamore says.

11:39am: Commissioner Adam Silver assured Reed last week that the league is committed to keeping the Hawks in Atlanta, as Reed relayed today to media, including The Associated Press. Reed also expressed hope that the team will indeed have a new owner by year’s end.

10:54am: It’s unclear just what percentage of the team is up for sale, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A buyer could have the majority of the team with the purchase of Levenson’s, Peskowitz’s and Foreman’s full stakes, since that would constitute 50.1% of the club. However, a purchase of less than that could presumably put Michael Gearon Sr. and Michael Gearon Jr., who control a combined 42%, in charge, though that’s just my speculation.

9:00am: The Hawks are likely to be sold by year’s end, at a price point that falls somewhere in between the $550MM the Bucks went for in the spring and the bloated $2 billion that Steve Ballmer paid for the Clippers, a source tells Michael Wallace of ESPN.com. In the meantime, several agents who spoke to Wallace are concerned about the front office situation, suggesting that the lingering effects of the controversy surrounding the team and GM Danny Ferry‘s indefinite absence will affect the team’s ability to make roster moves.

Controlling owner Bruce Levenson, along with partners Ed Peskowitz and Todd Foreman, are selling their shares of the team, which make up a collective 50.1% stake in the franchise, after revelations of a racially charged email prompted Levenson to relinquish his ownership. The balance between the efforts of Levenson and his partners to find a buyer against the league’s involvement in the sale is unclear, but the city of Atlanta is part of the process. Mayor Kasim Reed said last month that he had spoken with six prospective buyers. Hawks executive Dominique Wilkins has expressed interest in buying the team, likely in the role of front man for an investment group, though it’s not certain whether his recent promotion is a signal that he’s close to taking any sort of ownership role.

Coach Mike Budenholzer has taken over the GM duties for Ferry, whose racially charged remarks about Luol Deng prompted his indefinite leave, but Budenholzer dismisses the notion that juggling two jobs would leave the Hawks in a tenuous position, as he expressed to Wallace. The ESPN scribe also indicates that assistant GM Wes Wilcox is playing a prominent role.

“I feel like there’s not a huge difference, to be honest with you,” Budenholzer said to Wallace. “Preparing for camp and little things that needed to be decided — who’s coming, who’s not, where we’re staying — so there’s a few of those conversations that impact my day. A few more people are probably coming into my office than prior. It gives me a comfort level when I think I’ve been involved in a [Spurs] program where the assistants and coaches have had a lot of input. R.C. [Buford] and [Gregg] Popovich, those guys were amazing about listening. They valued our opinions. And now, I value everybody’s opinion.”

The agents who expressed their concerns to Wallace about the structure of the front office emphasized the effect as it applied to trades involving players on high-dollar or long-term deals, but such moves rarely happen at this point of the year. Closing the sale by December would allow the new ownership to have their staff in place in advance of the February 19th trade deadline, when more significant moves more commonly occur.

Mike Budenholzer On GM Duties, Roster, East

September 25th, 2014 at 3:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mike Budenholzer probably didn’t bank on adding responsibility over Atlanta’s basketball operations to his coaching duties after just one season as an NBA head coach, but the controversy surrounding the team has left him with a dual capacity. He’s serving as an interim GM while Danny Ferry is on an indefinite leave of absence, but in his comments today to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Budenholzer suggested the most difficult part has been seeing Ferry, whom he calls a friend, suffer under the harsh light of scrutiny. The coach/executive called Ferry’s racially derogatory statements about Luol Deng “out of character,” and dished on his new job and more in his conversation with Vivlamore. The entire interview is worth a read, but we’ll pull out three highlights here:

On how he’ll handle two jobs at once:

“We have an incredible group here with our management and our basketball operations, scouts, assistant coaches and medical staff. I think it’s what we feel is the best solution in a tough time. I’m excited to continue to fight for our guy, protect our guys and protect what we have been building and continue to move us forward. We have done everything collaboratively since I arrived. So in a lot of ways as much as possible we are going to continue to work and continue to do business. In a tough time, this is the best solution.”

On the battle for roster spots in camp:

“I think there is still competition. Guys come to camp and they come to make the team. I think we are in a situation where salary-wise and cap-wise we have some flexibility. I think we want to leave ourselves open to competition, most importantly, in putting together the best team we can. I think fortunately for us there is still opportunity for us, there is still flexibility in all ways, shapes and forms.”

On the team’s place in the Eastern Conference hierarchy:

“It’s strange. I don’t really pay that close attention to the rest of the East or the entire NBA. We are in such that building mode and that beginning phase mode that I’m really focused on our guys. I genuinely mean that. I think there are fans out there that know more about the East than I do. Hopefully I know more about the Hawks than they do. I know LeBron is in Cleveland now and Chicago has made some good additions, mostly Derrick Rose coming back healthy. I think you can go down the list of how the teams have improved. To whatever degree, I am aware of all that. I’m significantly more focused on what we are doing and hope that we can have that daily approach and be worried about ourselves. We’ll find our spot in that mix of teams.”

Eastern Notes: Budenholzer, Moore, Sanchez

September 20th, 2014 at 2:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The recent trend in the NBA of coaches doubling as GM’s has made its way to Atlanta where Mike Budenholzer is handling both positions for the Hawks, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com writes. Budenholzer’s circumstances do differ from the Clippers‘ Doc Rivers, Stan Van Gundy‘s in Detroit, and the Wolves‘ Flip Saunders, in that he took over the extra duties due to GM Danny Ferry being forced to take a leave of absence after his racist remarks were made public, and not by design.

Here’s more out of the east:

E’Twaun Moore‘s minimum salary deal with the Bulls comes with a guarantee of $425K for the first year, with the second being non-guaranteed, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link).
The Knicks have guaranteed $15K of Orlando Sanchez‘s minimum salary contract, Pincus notes (Twitter link).
JaKarr Sampson‘s four-year, minimum salary deal with the Sixers includes a $50K guarantee for the first season according to Pincus (Twitter link). The remaining three years of the deal come with no guaranteed money.

Danny Ferry Takes Indefinite Leave From Hawks

September 12th, 2014 at 3:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:36pm: Ferry apologized to Deng as part of a statement the Hawks sent out via another press release, one in which he also addressed his leave of absence.

“My focus moving forward is to tirelessly work to rebuild trust with this community and with our fans,” Ferry said in part. “I realize that my words may ring hollow now and my future actions must speak for me. I will maximize my time during this leave to meet with community leaders and further educate myself and others on the extremely sensitive issues surrounding race, diversity, and inclusion. I will find a way to make a positive difference in this area, and further learn from the sensitivity training that I will go through.”

3:04pm: Danny Ferry is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his job as Hawks GM, the team announced via press release. Coach Mike Budenholzer will assume control of the basketball operations while Ferry is away, according to the team’s statement, which CEO Steve Koonin authored.

“This has been an incredibly difficult time for him and his family and it is my hope that this time away from the Hawks organization allows him the privacy he needs to listen to the community, to learn about his mistakes, and to begin the long process of personal healing,” Koonin said in part. “As a human being, manager and friend, I wish him well as he undergoes this process.”

Koonin also hints at the turmoil within the team’s ownership group, which has been wracked with infighting since purchasing the team nine years ago. Co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. has sought Ferry’s ouster and has butted heads with controlling owner Bruce Levenson, who’s selling his stake.

“While the issues related to race are deeply troubling, at the heart of this dispute is an unfortunate disagreement amongst owners,” Koonin said. “That said, we have taken several steps to address what we can do as an organization to be better and stronger, including working with a diversity consultant to examine us and to train us to ensure something like this never happens again, we are committed to hiring a Chief Diversity Officer, and we have and will continue to meet with community leaders in an ongoing way to ensure our values reflect the community in which we play and work. The process of selling the team, which is to remain in Atlanta, is already underway.”

Budenholzer had been preparing to go into just his second season as an NBA head coach after having spent the previous 17 years as an assistant coach for the Spurs. He’s never held a job other than coach in the NBA, save for a two-season stint as video coordinator for the Spurs before he moved to the team’s bench. Atlanta has deals with 15 players, but the team will likely make multiple additions within the next few weeks for training camp.

Koonin has publicly backed Ferry, who received censure from the Hawks for having repeated racially charged statements about free agent target Luol Deng, who’s now with the Heat. Still, Koonin has stood by his decision not to force Ferry out, and Ferry gave no indication he planned to resign when he expressed regret earlier this week about repeating the statements. The NBA has maintained that it doesn’t intend to punish Ferry, and commissioner Adam Silver has said he doesn’t believe what Ferry did should prompt the Hawks to terminate him.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Poll: Experienced Coach Or First-Timer?

April 11th, 2014 at 8:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

As we approach the end of the NBA regular season, it’s the time of year when the annual coaching carousel begins to spin and a slew of faces will end up in brand new places. Heading into the 2013/14 season there were a total of 13 coaching changes, which if you’re keeping score at home, is the most ever in a single offseason.

We won’t know for sure just how many teams will be making a change on their bench until the playoffs are over. Normally you would think a playoff spot would ensure job security, but Lionel Hollins, Vinny Del Negro, and Larry Drew all weren’t retained after reaching the playoffs last year. So the exact number of vacancies are up in the air, but we know there will be some.

If your team is making a head coaching change, which would you prefer in your new hire? Do you want a veteran coach with years of experience to lead your team? One who has a proven track record, but also could be carrying baggage and bad habits picked up throughout the years. Or, would you prefer the energy and new ideas a first-time coach can provide? A new coach has more to prove, and might be more in touch with the pulse and culture of his players, but has no experience to rely on, and no track record to predict future performance.

Let’s look at how this year’s crop of new coaches fared as an example. First up, the ones with prior experience:

Doc Rivers (Clippers): The team is 55-24, first in the Pacific Division, and the third seed in the playoffs. Last year’s team went 56-26 under Vinny Del Negro, before Del Negro wasn’t retained and the team traded for Rivers.
Maurice Cheeks (Pistons): He was fired 50 games into the year with a record of 20-29. Detroit was 29-53 in 2012/13 under Lawrence Frank. After the team signed Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off season, owner Tom Gores expected a much better record and for the team to make the playoffs.
Mike Brown (Cavaliers): The team sits at 32-47, which is good for tenth in the eastern conference. Last year under Byron Scott the team had a record of 24-58 and ended up with the first overall selection in the draft.
Larry Drew (Bucks): The Bucks sit at 14-64. which is good for the worst record in the league. In 2012/13 under Scott Skiles and Jim Boylan the team went 38-44.

Now for how the first-time coaches performed:

Jason Kidd (Nets): The Nets are at 43-35, which is good for the fifth overall playoff seed. Kidd replaced interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, whose team finished 2012/13 with a record of 49-33.
Brad Stevens (Celtics): Stevens, taking over for Doc Rivers, has gone 23-55, but has the re-building team heading in a positive direction. Last year’s team went 41-40.
Mike Budenholzer (Hawks): The Hawks have gone 35-43 and currently hold the final playoff spot in the east. Last year’s Larry Drew led squad went 44-38.
Steve Clifford (Bobcats): Clifford has led the Bobcats to a 40-38 record and the sixth seed in the east. Under Mike Dunlap the team went 21-61 during last year’s campaign.
Brian Shaw (Nuggets): The Nuggets have been hampered by injuries all season, and sit at 35-44. Shaw replaced coach of the year winner George Karl, who led the team to a record of 57-25.
David Joerger (Grizzlies): Joerger replaced Lionel Hollins and has guided the team to a record of 46-32, and has the team is one game out of the final playoff spot. Last year the team went 56-26.
Brett Brown (Sixers): Under Brown the Sixers have the second worst record in the league at 17-61, including a record-tying 26 game losing streak. Last season under Doug Collins, the team went 34-48.
Jeff Hornacek (Suns): The Suns are one of the most improved teams in the league with a record of 47-31, and hold the seventh seed in the western conference. Last year under Lindsey Hunter and Alvin Gentry the team went 25-57.
Mike Malone (Kings): Under Malone the Kings have gone 27-52. During the 2012/13 season under Keith Smart the team ended up 28-54.

This means that in their first seasons with their new teams, experienced coaches went 121-164 (.424), and the first-timers went 313-391 (.444). There are many different factors outside a coach’s control that contribute to the team’s final record, but the nature of the NBA is that the coach is the first one to take the heat.

Now it’s time to vote. If your team makes a coaching change this off season, do you want an experienced person hired, or would you prefer the team brings in a brand new face? Cast your vote below and feel free to give your thoughts in the comments section below.

Southeast Rumors: Porter, Williams, Wizards

September 28th, 2013 at 7:24pm CST by Spencer Lund

The No. 2 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Otto Porter, suffered a right hip flexor injury, reports the Associated Press, and was limited in practice. Fortunately for Wizards fans, Nene Hilario and John Wall are healthy, but as Michael Lee of the Washington Post points out on Twitter, Trevor Booker was also limited in practice with a sore right knee.

Here's more on the Wizards and Hawks…

As J. Michael of CSN Washington summarizes, the Wizards have been suffering from the injury bug as training camps open around the league. Emeka Okafor (herniated disk) and Chris Singleton (left foot/toe surgery) are already out and now Booker and Porter are limited.
Wall added to Lee's piece that after watching footage from the 2012/13 season, he's confident of the team's success this coming year. "We know what we're capable of as a team," Wall told him. "We just got to play like we did last year, be a great defensive team, be a faster team, get out in the open court," said Wall.
On the injury front, the Hawks scoring guard (Lou) Louis Williams has no timetable on a return from the ACL tear he suffered last season, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution [subscription only].
Vivlamore adds that former Hawk Damien Wilkins is liable to make the team if Williams isn't able to go right away. After suffering the torn ACL in his right knee in January, the recovery period is 9-12 months and Williams has yet to participate in any scrimmaging with the team before training camp opens.
Vivlamore goes on to include that a new coach, Mike Budenholzer, means there will be a new system in place for even the veteran Hawks to learn in this month's training camp.
Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes that Kemba Walker, after two years of losing in Charlotte, led a "jump-start" on the Bobcats' training camp.

Load More Posts