Atlanta Hawks: New Regime Will Help Bud in Year Three
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Hawks now have an ownership group in place that can provide the necessary stability for Head Coach and newly titled President of Basketball Operations Mike Budenholzer.
Coach Bud has already begun a major culture change within the Atlanta Hawks organization. He brought with him from the Alamo City many cerebral team-first concepts, a commitment to excellence on the defensive end of the floor, and a strong impetus in player development.
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But over the last two years, Coach Bud has certainly had an uphill battle with regards to a culture change because of some front office issues. Coach Bud came to Atlanta due in large part to his previous work relationship with ten GM Danny Ferry. Both men had been part of the San Antonio Spurs organization in the early 2000’s when Budenholzer was an assistant coach to Gregg Popovich and Ferry ended his NBA career in the Alamo City.
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After a strong offseason trying to turn around this basketball club in 2013, the Danny Ferry/Bruce Levenson Scandal hurt the promising Atlanta front office situation considerably. Ferry went into exile following his remarks about then free agent swingman Luol Deng. Levenson felt his own role in the scandal was detrimental to the organization, opting to sell his majority stake in the team and effectively dissolve the highly criticized Atlanta Spirit Group.
When ASG finally had a suitable group step forward, the NBA owners approved of ASG’s sale of the Atlanta Hawks to venture capitalist Tony Ressler. Ressler’s group included many key minority owners including former NBA All-Star Grant Hill. The Ressler Group implemented a new uniform design to go along with the organization’s re-branding. Coach Bud will benefit from having an approachable owner that will only want to bring the best out of his newly acquired team.
Entering the 2015-16 NBA Season, I cannot recall an offseason where I have had this much faith in the Atlanta Hawks front office. Budenholzer earned the PBO title after two stellar years as HC jump starting this program. Wes Wilcox became the GM after serving under Ferry the last few years as his top assistant. Ressler kept CEO Steve Koonin as an important piece in the organization’s growth and development. Even more recently, the Atlanta Hawks have made some more positive front office moves by bringing in guys like Malik Rose into the organization.
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If Coach Bud thrived in an organization that was in the middle of a sale because of a league-wide controversy, imagine what he could do in Year Three as Head Coach when he doesn’t have lingering distractions coming from upper management. The most important thing for the Atlanta Hawks to do as an organization going forward is to have all players and staff on the same page. With a new ownership group in town, the transition should come as a smoother one than last year’s.
Next: Al Horford: Would He Leave Atlanta Via Free Agency?
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