The Bucks have found their next coach. According to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday evening, Milwaukee reached an agreement with former Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer. The Bucks beat the Raptors to the punch on the hiring, as Masai Ujiri's bunch had been interested in Budenholzer as well. Where the Raps go from here remains to be seen, but they could keep things in-house and promote assistant coach Nick Nurse, who is reportedly a candidate for the opening.
Toronto announced Friday that Casey, the all-time winningest coach in franchise history, was fired from his post after seven seasons. Casey led the Raptors to the top seed in the Eastern Conference and a franchise-best 59 wins, but were swept by LeBron James' Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs.
Elsewhere, there are some rumors emerging around the Orlando Magic job. University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, who led the Cougars to a 27-8 record and a second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament in his fourth season in 2018, is getting buzz as the focal point of the Magic's search, per a report from the New York Times' Marc Stein.
As for the Hawks, they announced the hiring of 76ers assistant Lloyd Pierce to fill the head coaching vacancy left by Budenholzer.
In hiring news, the Charlotte Hornets officially filled their coaching vacancy with Spurs assistant coach James Borrego, making the news official on Thursday. Borrego's hire comes as a bit of a surprise as the Hornets were tied to a different Spurs assistant, Ettore Messina. But Borrego served as the Magic's interim coach in the 2014-15 season, when he went 10-20 with Orlando after Jacque Vaughn was fired midseason. He has also been an assistant with the Hornets, Spurs and Magic during his coaching career.
The NBA had another coaching vacancy open up last week as the Pistons announced that Stan Van Gundy will not return as coach or president of basketball operations. In four seasons under Van Gundy, Detroit missed the playoffs three times, including this season when it finished 39-43. The Pistons will be looking to hire their new coach and a team president separately. Some potential names there are David Griffin for president, and Jerry Stackhouse and Budenholzer for coach.
Van Gundy isn't alone. Jeff Hornacek (Knicks), Frank Vogel (Magic) and Steve Clifford (Hornets) have also gotten the boot. New York has replaced Hornacek with former Grizzlies coach David Fizdale.
We'll continue to update this post with the latest firings, hires and rumors from around the league.
| Team | OUT | IN | NEWS |
|---|---|---|---|
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Mike Budenholzer | Lloyd Pierce | After coach Mike Budenholzer and the team mutually agreed to part ways, the Hawks announced the hiring of 76ers assistant Lloyd Pierce. |
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Steve Clifford | James Borrego | The Hornets cut ties with coach Steve Clifford after failing to make the playoffs for a second straight season. Charlotte finalized a deal on Thursday to hire San Antonio assistant James Borrego as coach. |
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Stan Van Gundy | VACANT | Stan Van Gundy and the Pistons have parted ways after another disappointing season for Detroit. The Pistons will now be seeking for not only a new coach, but a new President as well. David Griffin has been rumored as a potential candidate for the front office position, while Jerry Stackhouse and Mike Budenholzer are potential replacement coaches. |
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David Fizdale | J.B. Bickerstaff | Fizdale might have been the most shocking firing of the season, as he was let go amid a reported struggle with Grizzlies center Marc Gasol . In the end, the Grizzlies decided to stick with Bickerstaff, signing him to a three-year deal. |
|
Jason Kidd | Mike Budenholzer | The Bucks fired Kidd after he led the Bucks to a 23-22 start to his fourth season, and replaced him with interim coach Joe Prunty for the remainder of the season. Prunty led the Bucks to the postseason, where they lost to the Celtics in the first-round in seven games. In the end, that wasn't enough to get him the job full time, as the Bucks reached an agreement with former Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer. |
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Jeff Hornacek | David Fizdale | The Knicks fired Hornacek after two seasons as the team's coach and a 60-104 record, the sixth-worst in the league during that time. New York has agreed to terms with former Grizzlies coach David Fizdale on a four-year deal to become the team's next coach . |
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Frank Vogel | VACANT | The Magic fired Vogel after two years and a 54-110 record in Orlando. Vogel had his struggles, but he also didn't have a lot of talent to work with. When a team is pretty egregiously tanking, it's easy to hang the coach out to dry, and apparently Vogel took the brunt of that this season. |
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Earl Watson | Igor Kokoskov | It didn't take the Suns long to realize that Watson wasn't their guy -- he was fired after just three games -- and Triano did an admirable job guiding the tanking efforts for the rest of the season. Now, they have their new man. Utah Jazz assistant Igor Kokoskov was the choice . The Serbian-born Kokoskov will be the first European born head coach in NBA history. |
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Dwane Casey | VACANT | The Toronto Raptors have fired coach Dwane Casey, a move that came just days after being swept by Cleveland in the second round of the playoffs. Casey led Toronto to the No. 1 seed in the East and a franchise record 59 wins in 2017-18. |
Coaching Rumors
Atlanta Hawks
- The Hawks have parted ways with coach Mike Budenholzer after his reported displeasure with Atlanta's future plans.
- The Hawks have agreed to hire 76ers assistant Lloyd Pierce as the team's head coach.
Charlotte Hornets
- Charlotte has agreed to a deal with former Magic interim coach and Spurs assistant James Borrego to a reported four-year contract.
Detroit Pistons
- Detroit and Stan Van Gundy have parted ways. The search for a new coach and president will begin immediately.
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David Griffin has been rumored as a potential candidate for the front office position, while Jerry Stackhouse and Mike Budenholzer are potential replacement coaches.
Milwaukee Bucks
- The Bucks have reportedly reached an agreement with former Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Sam Presti put out any rumors of Billy Donovan being fired to bed during his exit interview when he said that Donovan will be the remain as coach next season.
Orlando Magic
- The Magic have secured interviews with the following candidates: Jerry Stackhouse, according to Yahoo Sports, as well as David Vanterpool and Ime Udoka, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman has indicated he would rather fill the coaching job "sooner than later," according to the Orlando Sentinel.
- The Magic are reportedly keying in on University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, according to a report from Marc Stein of The New York Times. Stein says that this comes from insiders congregated in Chicago for the NBA Combine this week. Sampson was an NBA assistant with the Bucks and Rockets before joining the Cougars 2014.
Portland Trail Blazers
- Portland reportedly considered firing coach Terry Stotts after the team was swept in the first round of the playoffs. Multiple teams like the Magic and Suns were ready to pounce if he were to become available, but Portland has changed its mind and wants to keep Stotts through the final year of his contract, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.
Toronto Raptors
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Dwane Casey has been fired by the Raptors after Toronto's disappointing playoff sweep to the Cavs.
- According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Mike Budenholzer was interviewed for the Raptors coaching position, but they never made him an offer.
- According to Marc Stein of The New York Times, assistants Rex Kalamian and Nick Nurse are scheduled to interview for the Raptors' vacant position.
Possible coaching candidates
- Dwane Casey, 61, former Raptors coach
- David Blatt, 58, former Cavaliers coach; current Turkish Super League coach
- Mike Brown, 48, former Cavaliers coach; current Warriors associate coach
- Steve Clifford, 56, former Hornets coach
- Stan Van Gundy, 58, former Pistons coach
- Vinny Del Negro, 51, former Bulls and Clippers head coach
- Becky Hammon, 41, current Spurs assistant coach
- Jeff Hornacek, 54, former Knicks and Suns coach
- Mark Jackson, 53, former Warriors coach; current TV analyst
- Jason Kidd, 45, former Nets and Bucks coach
- Jay Larranaga, 42, current Celtics assistant
- Ettore Messina, 58, current Spurs assistant
- Nick Nurse, 50, current Raptors assistant
- Kelvin Sampson, 62, current Houston Cougars coach
- Stephen Silas, 45, current Hornets assistant
- Kenny Smith, 53, current TV analyst
- Jerry Stackhouse, 43, current G League coach (Raptors 905)
- Nate Tibbetts, 40, current Blazers assistant
- Ime Udoka, 40, current Spurs assistant
- Jeff Van Gundy, 56, former Knicks and Rockets coach; current TV analyst
- David Vanterpool, 45, firmer Trail Blazers assistant
- Frank Vogel, 44, former Magic and Pacers coach
- Mike Woodson, 60, former Hawks and Knicks coach