Atlanta Hawks: Next Assistant to Become an NBA HC?

Under HC Mike Budenholzer the Atlanta Hawks have become a mecca for player development. Just look at the transformations of former free agents Paul Millsap, DeMarre Carroll, and Kent Bazemore. Then look at the homegrown prospects of Dennis Schroder and Mike Muscala. Hopefully Walter Tavares, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Justin Holiday join the growing list of players who have improved playing for Mike Budenholzer and his staff with the Atlanta Hawks.

And it’s not just Bud who is solely responsible for his player becoming better pros. His coaching staff is excellent and many teams in the NBA may eventually poach Bud’s staff. The Utah Jazz pried Top Assistant and former HC of the Missouri Tigers to coach their up-and-coming team in the West. Utah has a great young core, plays great team defense, and could very well make the 2016 NBA Playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed in the juggernaut that is the NBA Western Conference.

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Should Atlanta continue to succeed in the coming years for Bud and Snyder successfully brings Utah back to being a Jerry Sloan level team, I think the Atlanta Hawks could lose another top assistant to another rebuilding team. Who is the next Atlanta Hawks’ assistant to become an NBA head coach?

Where it stands now, I see three members of Bud’s staff being capable of running their own team in three or fewer years: Kenny Atkinson, Darvin Ham, and Neven Spahija. Atkinson replaced Snyder as Budenholzer’s top assistant in 2014-15. Kenny coached the World team in the Rookies/Sophomore Challenge during the All-Star Festivities in the Big Apple. Atkinson is currently coaching the Atlanta Hawks’ Summer League into a deep playoff run of their own and plans to coach the Dominican Republic National Team.

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Ham coached the Summer League squad last year and specializes with getting his big men to play efficiently in the low post. A former Hawks (2002-03) and an NBA Champion with the 2004 Detroit Pistons, Ham knows what it takes to compete in the NBA as an eight year veteran in the Association. Though he’s not Bud’s top assistant per se, Ham is usually right in the mix with drawing up plays and speaking to the media on Hawks’ telecasts.

Spahija enjoyed great success in his first season in the States as a basketball coach. The childhood friend of Croatian basketball legend Drazen Petrovic (RIP), Spahija seems to coach not only for himself but for his late best friend. Neven had coached all over Europe (2000-13), including a EuroCup Trophy in 2010 while leading Valencia. With the success of longtime European and current Cleveland Cavaliers HC David Blatt, not only is the Association becoming more international on the court but likely on the sidelines as well. Neven Spahija is a great basketball and will get his opportunity state side at some point.

If I had to guess, I would say that Kenny Atkinson is the first of these three Atlanta Hawks’ assistants to become an NBA head coach. It would shock me if Atkinson is still on the Hawks’ staff after the 2016-17 Season with the way the Atlanta Hawks program has grown these last two seasons.

Ham may need to become a top assistant before getting looked at by the rest of the league as a serious HC candidate. Spahija just needs a few more years of learning the NBA’s game and culture. I see Spahija becoming top assistant when Atkinson does get an NBA head coaching gig.

Overall the Atlanta Hawks have a solid coaching staff that seems more than capable of replacing top flight assistants without skipping a beat. Given Bud’s previous apprenticeship in San Antonio with Gregg Popovich and his current state of success here in Atlanta, I think that many aspiring NBA HC’s will want to come to Atlanta and enjoy the good times as the Hawks become a perennial Eastern Conference contender.

Next: Atlanta Hawks: Top 5 Bench Players in 2016?

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