ATLANTA (AP) The Atlanta Hawks and coach Mike Budenholzer mutually agreed to part ways.
The Hawks announced the move Wednesday night in a three-sentence statement.
The decision was not totally unexpected as Budenholzer was granted permission to interview with other teams even though he is under contract with the Hawks for two more seasons.
According to multiple reports, Budenholzer interviewed with the Phoenix Suns for their vacant coaching position last week before withdrawing his name from consideration. Budenholzer now may be a top candidate to coach the New York Knicks.
Budenholzer was 213-192 in the regular season and 17-22 in the playoffs in five seasons with Atlanta. The Hawks were an Eastern Conference-worst 24-58 this season.
Budenholzer, a longtime San Antonio assistant, was named NBA coach of the year for the 2014-15 season, when he led the Hawks to their first 60-win season, a division title and their first appearance in the Eastern Conference finals. He was promoted to president of basketball operations but then gave up that title when Travis Schlenk was hired as general manager in 2017.
The Hawks’ inability to retain such top players as Al Horford and Paul Milsap led to the team’s rapid decline. The Hawks fell to the bottom of the conference while leaning heavily on rookie center John Collins, second-year forward Taurean Prince and point guard Dennis Schroder.
The Hawks have scheduled a news conference with Schlenk for Thursday.
Schlenk did not immediately respond to an interview request from The Associated Press.
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