Mike Budenholzer is out and it remains to be seen who is in. But Bucks general manager Jon Horst said he has no specific criteria for who will be the team’s next coach.
In fact, the only hint given by Horst is that the search will be thorough. He added that having forward Giannis Antetokounmpo shouldn’t hurt the Bucks find a new main man on the sideline.
“We have to make a great hire and I don’t want to put any boxes around what that will be,” Horst said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I believe we will have a very attractive position. We have the best player in the world. We have a championship culture and organization. We have great facilities. I think we have great respect around the league.”
This past season, the Bucks finished 58-24, the best record in the entire NBA. Then they lost to the eighth-seeded Heat in the first round of the playoffs.
Most people had Milwaukee pegged to win the title. Instead, they won a playoff game — and that was it.
So however they hire next, they want it to be a coach that can meet expectations in the playoffs. Budenholzer, of course, did that in 2021, when the Bucks won the championship.
“We’re very much in a phase of gathering and collecting and who’s interested and what that very large candidate pool can be and then we’ll work from there,” Horst said.
As for a timeline, well, Horst made it pretty clear there is no rush.
“It’s way more important to make the right decision than it is to make a decision quick,’ Horst said. “And so, time matters, but getting this right is the only thing that matters. So, we will take whatever time it needs to do that.”
No one has been linked to the Bucks job so far, though some have speculated that former Raptors coach Nick Nurse and current Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson could be among the candidates.
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