A Charlotte Hornets Budenholzer-Howard reunion? That would be awkward
There's a new opening for a head coach in the NBA, with the Atlanta Hawks and coach Mike Budenholzer agreeing to break up after five seasons with Budenholzer at the helm.
Could Budenholzer emerge as a candidate to coach the Charlotte Hornets? That sounds complicated, considering how Hornets center Dwight Howard's one season with the Hawks ended.
The Hawks announced Wednesday night that Budenholzer, NBA Coach of the Year in 2015, would move on. He had been given permission to interview for the Phoenix Suns' opening and his name was also linked with the New York Knicks.
New Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak is in search of a head coach, after firing Steve Clifford April 13. Budenholzer could make sense, but for this complication: Budenholzer benched Howard in the fourth quarter twice in the 2017 playoffs in the one season Howard played for his hometown Hawks, before being traded to the Hornets.
Howard was clearly miffed — and motivated — when the Hornets played the Hawks this season; he specifically mentioned Budenholzer in connection to his extra motivation to beat the Hawks last season. Before one game in Charlotte, Howard went so far as to say he wanted to "kill" the Hawks.
Howard has one season left on his current contract with a salary of about $24 million.
Yet, there could well be a Hornets connection to the Hawks opening. ESPN reported that longtime Hornets assistant coach Stephen Silas is a candidate to replace Budenholzer. Silas served as Clifford's lead assistant last season, and filled in as head coach for six weeks while Clifford was on medical leave for severe headaches related to sleep-deprivation.
Silas was a finalist to coach the Houston Rockets before veteran coach Mike D'Antoni got that job. Silas worked with now-Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk when both were with the Golden State Warriors.
Silas and Clifford's other Hornets assistants are still under contract to the Hornets. Silas talked after Clifford returned about the value of coaching a team for several weeks, as far as preparing him for what he might face as a head coach in the future.
Kupchak is in the process of interviewing Hornets candidates, including former Memphis Grizzlies coach David Fizdale and San Antonio Spurs lead assistant Ettore Messina. With the Warriors eliminating the Spurs from the playoffs Tuesday night, Messina is expected to interview soon. While Messina hasn't previously been an NBA head coach, he has extensive, and highly successful, head-coaching experience in Europe.
This story was originally published April 25, 2018 at 11:06 PM with the headline "A Charlotte Hornets Budenholzer-Howard reunion? That would be awkward."