Mike Budenholzer was fired by the Milwaukee Bucks but he's a championship-winning coach with a great track record. These three teams should snap him up.
Mike Budenholzer has been one of the best coaches in the NBA for the last decade. He has spent all 10 of his years coaching in the Eastern Conference and has been the coach of the top seed in four different seasons and has had the best record in the NBA in three times. Bud has also been the NBA Coach of the Year twice and won an NBA championship in 2021.
In Bud's career, he turned good talent into great talent in Atlanta and then turned great talent into even greater talent and NBA champions in Milwaukee. Being one of Greg Popovich's prodigies, Bud has the potential to take over another NBA franchise and drastically improve the team going into the next season.
Teams that need Mike Budenholzer: 3. Philadelphia 76ers
For the last six seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers have failed to get past the second round — losing to the Celtics in five games in 2018, Raptors in seven games in 2019, swept by the Celtics in 2020, Hawks in seven games in 2021, Heat in six games in 2022, and lost again to the Celtics in seven games again this year.
The lack of the 76ers' success has been in part of the health and performance of 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid. With Bud being a leg off of Pop's chair, he is a firm believer in load managing and managing a player's health. Looking at how Bud coached two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, he only played him an average of 32 minutes per game in the regular season and ramped up his minutes for the postseason. As the coach for the 76ers, we could see this same pattern with Joel Embiid. Playing him fewer minutes in the regular season where he is less likely to be tired or hurt throughout the playoffs.
Another area where Bud could heavily impact the 76ers would be with their up-and-coming star guard, Tyrese Maxey. With the uncertainty of James Harden's future, Maxey is going to be taking on a bigger role and coach Bud has had a lot of success coaching guards. He turned Jeff Teague into an All-Star, turned Eric Bledsoe into an All-NBA defender, and helped Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday become stars in this league too. Bud could have the same effect on Maxey, enhancing his combo guard abilities, and turning him into one of the best guards in the Eastern Conference.
Adding coach Bud would also give the 76ers a competitive advantage over one of their biggest rivals, the Milwaukee Bucks, because Bud would know their weakness. The 76ers should strongly consider Mike Budenholzer if they want to increase their title odds.
Teams that need Mike Budenholzer: 2. Toronto Raptors
Since the 2019 NBA Finals, the Toronto Raptors have been one of the most up-and-down teams in the NBA. In 2020 they finished with the second-best record in the league at 53-19, in 2021 had a record of 27-45, in 2022 finished 48-34 and this year finished with a record of 41-41.
The Raptors have a nice core with Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam and Fred Vanvleet. This is very similar to the core of the 60-win 2015 Atlanta Hawks team that Bud coached, with Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, and Al Horford. Adding Bud could have a similar effect on the Raptors as he did with the Hawks, where the Raptors would have four All-Star to borderline All-Star players with a great bench too. He could lead the Raptors back to a 50-win season and become a serious contender in the East.
The addition of Bud would also improve the play of the Raptors' 2021 first-round pick and 2022 Rookie of the Year, Scottie Barnes. He is a 6-foot-9 power forward and is extremely versatile but didn't improve much after his stellar rookie year. Bud could have a similar effect on Barnes as he did with Antetokounmpo, helping him evolve into the best version of himself.
Teams that need Mike Budenholzer: 1. Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic were quietly one of the most surprising teams in the NBA this year. In the team's first 25 games, they had a record of 5-20 but in their remaining 57 games of the season, they finished above .500 going 29-28, finishing 34-48 on the year. The Magic are an up-and-coming team and could really use the right coach to get them over the hump.
Adding Coach Bud could drastically improve this team going into next year. We have already seen Bud have success with average talent in the NBA but imagine what he could do with the rising talent the Magic have. This team has two rising stars with Franz Wagner, who averaged 18.6 points per game on 49/36/84 splits, and the 2023 Rookie of the Year, Paolo Banchero, who averaged 20 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. Given Paolo is 6-foot-10, 250 lbs, and extremely versatile, Bud could turn him into the next LeBron James or Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Bud would also have a great impact on the guard play of the Magic, especially Markelle Fultz. Fultz quietly averaged 14 points on 51 percent shooting from the field and 5.7 assists per game this season. Adding Bud's team basketball system could see an increase in Fultz's assists where he's potentially averaging eight assists a game and still giving you 15 to 18 efficient points a night.
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