Who Is Next In Line In Milwaukee?
Following their first round exit against the Miami Heat, many around the league believed Mike Budenholdzer’s days as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks were numbered.
Only a week removed from their Game Five loss, Budenholzer was officially relieved of his duties as the Bucks’ bench boss. For some, Milwaukee’s decision to fire the coach who guided the franchise to a championship in 2021 may seem harsh. However, others believe it’s a move that was actually overdue. The Bucks failed to advance to the second round despite winning a league-leading 58 games during the 2022-2023 season, and sported an offense that was overly reliant on Giannis to carry them.
Analysts also questioned Budenholzer’s decisions- most notably in Game Five when he failed to call a timeout during the final possession of regulation and overtime.
Under Budenholzer, the Bucks went 270-120 in the regular season- finishing with the best record in the league three times. Unfortunately, Milwaukee struggled to replicate that same level of success in the postseason with the notable exception of 2021.
Despite signing a three-year contract that was supposed to tie him to the franchise until 2025, the 53 year old is now officially out in Milwaukee. And with their earlier than anticipated offseason now underway, the Bucks front office hopes to get a jumpstart on their search for a new head coach.
The question now becomes, who will replace Budenholzer at the helm?
Frank Vogel
One possible replacement for coach Bud is Frank Vogel, whose previous coaching gig was with the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers. There, he helped guide the Lakers to a championship in 2020 inside the Orlando bubble.
Unfortunately, many fans blamed Vogel for the Lakers’ disastrous run during the first phase of the Russell Westbrook experiment which led to the Lakers’ missing the playoffs in 2022 and ultimately Vogel leaving Hollywood.
Factoring in stints with LA, the Indiana Pacers, and the Orlando Magic, Vogel’s career coaching record stands at 431-389 across 11 seasons. Good for a .526 win percentage.
Vogel’s experience in handling big name veterans like LeBron and Anthony Davis makes him a great choice to work with a roster led by Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The 49 year old New Jersey native has already seen his name floated out in the hours following Budenholzer’s dismissal, and at a minimum the Bucks front office will likely kick the tires on his availability.
Nick Nurse
Former Toronto Raptors Head Coach Nick Nurse, is reportedly the top candidate for the Bucks coaching job according to sources. The Raptors fired the coach that steered the team to its first ever NBA championship back in 2019 earlier this spring. Toronto failed to advance to the playoffs this season- marking the second time in four years they’d failed to advance past the play-in round and evidently the Raptors’ front office had seen enough.
Nick Nurse can be viewed as the antithesis of Mike Budenholzer. While coach Bud would stick to his systems, sometimes to a fault, Nurse is largely viewed as a master of adjustments.
During the 2019 playoffs, one of the reasons why the Raptors won the championship is because Nurse’s in-game adjustments gave his roster minute edges over other teams with more firepower. Factor in enough of those small advantages over the course of a 7 game series, and that can sometimes be the difference between a first round exit and a parade.
At a minimum Nick Nurse could likely coax a bit more out of the Bucks players outside of Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.
Nurse’s coaching record in Toronto finished at 227-163. He took home the 2019-2020 NBA Coach of the Year award and is well respected across the league. While Kawhi had arguably one of the best years of his career in Toronto, Nurse has never had a player like Giannis at his disposal, making for an enticing pairing should Milwaukee elect to bring in the former Raptor.
Other names that have been linked to the job include current Bucks assistant Charles Lee, Becky Hammon, Kenny Atkinson, David Adelman.
-Iggy Gonzales
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