4. Mike Budenholzer, Atlanta Hawks
A former disciple of Gregg Popovich, who we’ll visit a littler later on this list, Mike Budenholzer has made a nice little name for himself with the Atlanta Hawks. After leading the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals a couple years ago, Budenholzer has stabilized the franchise.
Even after losing Al Horford this summer, expectations are still sky high in Atlanta with the free agent signing of Dwight Howard. Perhaps under a more defensive-minded brain, Dwight will be able to find his former Defensive Player of the Year self again.
Hey, I said perhaps.
Nevertheless, Dwight won’t be the only new starter in Atlanta. The Hawks also traded away Jeff Teague in order to promote Dennis Schroder from within, who now takes over at the starting point guard position. All in all, Budenholzer has his work cut out for him in 2016-17. Though, I don’t think we should expect anything short of another top 4 finish in the Eastern Conference from the Hawks.
And Mike Budenholzer, a Former NBA Coach of the Year (2015) award winner, is a big reason why.
Next: No. 3