Report: Suns’ McDonough, Sarver have met with Hawks’ Budenholzer
Apr 17, 2018, 6:56 PM | Updated: 6:59 pm
Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer watches a three point try during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday, April 10, 2018, in Atlanta. Philadelphia won 121-113. (AP Photo/John Amis)
(AP Photo/John Amis)
The Phoenix Suns’ management and ownership met with Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer on Monday and Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. That included general manager Ryan McDonough and owner Robert Sarver.
On Friday the Hawks gave the Suns permission to speak with Budenholzer, who has two years and over $13 million left on his deal, per Wojnarowski.
Despite interest from all sides involved, there is still aways to go in the process.
The Hawks and Budenholzer are both open to ending their partnership, but there are several hurdles that would need to be cleared before that could happen, including the Suns making an offer and agreeing to a contract and possible compensation to Atlanta.
An Arizona native born and raised in Holbrook, Budenholzer led the Hawks to 60 wins, a No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the Eastern Conference Finals in his second year as head coach in the 2014-15 season. He was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year.
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The Hawks finished 24-58 this season under Budenholzer and missed the playoffs under him for the first time in five seasons.
He previously worked as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs from 1996-2013 under Gregg Popovich. He won four NBA championships with San Antonio during that time.
The Suns plan on also interviewing Steve Clifford, David Fizdale, Jay Triano and Frank Vogel, per 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s John Gambadoro.
