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The Milwaukee Bucks have finally put in place their next head coach with the hiring of former Atlanta Hawks frontman Mike Budenholzer to a four-year deal on Wednesday afternoon.
It has taken long for All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to express his excitement about the move to bring in an established coach that he voiced that he can't wait to begin working with him, according to Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Talked to Giannis Antetokounmpo for a few minutes here at the #NBACombine about his brother Kostas as well as Mike Budenholzer, Milwaukee's new coach. Here's one of the answers he had for me about Budenholzer and the end of the coaching search: pic.twitter.com/2TvveK1AB1
— Matt Velazquez (@Matt_Velazquez) May 17, 2018
During his five seasons with the Hawks, Budenholzer did experience a fair amount of success with the franchise that included earning the NBA Coach of the Year award back in the 2015-16 campaign after helping lead the team to a 60-win season and the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference. However, Atlanta is coming off a disappointing season where they missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2006-07 season while finishing with one of the worst records in the league.
The argument could be made that the Hawks didn't possess the type of talent necessary to help push them into playoff contention following the departure of both Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap. The team did have some young promising players in Taurean Prince and Dennis Schroder, but there wasn't much to guide them to any sustained success last season.
Budenholzer will need to head into a situation where he will coach a highly-talented young roster where he will have the opportunity to help Antetokounmpo take the next step in his career to become a more complete offensive talent. He will also be tasked with helping the team reach its potential in becoming a legitimate title contender in the Eastern Conference with their young core group taking the next stride forward as a collective aside from the 23-year-old. Only time will truly tell if this was the right move to help move both Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the right direction next season and beyond.
