Phoenix receives permission to talk to Budenholzer

Suns had worst record (21-61) in NBA this season.

The Hawks granted coach Mike Budenholzer permission to speak to the Phoenix Suns about their vacant head coaching position, Suns general manager Ryan McDonough confirmed to azcentral.com Friday.

Budenholzer, 48, has been Hawks coach the past five seasons after spending 17 seasons as a Spurs assistant. The Hawks were 24-58 this season, last in the Eastern Conference, after they made the playoffs in each of Budenholzer’s previous four seasons.

The Hawks hired general manager Travis Schlenk in May 2017, soon after Budenholzer resigned as the team’s top basketball executive. Hawks owner Tony Ressler hired Schlenk, who began the process of shedding the roster of high-priced veterans and rebuilding it by acquiring draft picks, young players and salary-cap flexibility.

Before this season, Budenholzer’s teams made the playoffs in every year except one since he became a coach. At the end of this season, Budenholzer said losing was hard for him but that he enjoyed the process of coaching a younger team and developing players.

The Suns are in a similar rebuild mode as the Hawks — they had the league’s worst record this season at 21-61. Budenholzer’s interest in the job likely is in part because Phoenix is near his hometown of Holbrook, Ariz.

The Hawks posted a franchise-record 60 victories in 2015-16, when Budenholzer was named the NBA’s coach of the year. The Hawks con- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was born in Holbrook, Ariz. cluded that season with their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since the franchise moved to Atlanta before the 1968-69 season.

Hawks lose both tiebreakers

The Hawks lost both tiebreaker drawings involving their draft picks Friday. The Mavericks won a tiebreaker against the Hawks and have the slightly better odds to win the No. 1 pick. The Mavs also will own an earlier pick than the Hawks if neither team wins one of the top three lottery picks.

The Mavericks have a 13.8 percent chance of winning the top pick and will get a pick no worse than sixth. The Hawks have a 13.7 percent chance to win the No. 1 pick and will get a pick no worse than seventh. The Suns have the best odds at winning the top pick (25 percent) and will get a pick no worse than fourth. The Grizzlies have a 19.9 percent chance to win the No. 1 pick and will receive a pick no worse than fifth.

The Hawks also own Minnesota’s 2018 first-round pick by way of a 2015 trade. The Timberwolves finished in a two-way tie with the Spurs, who won the tiebreaker drawing and own the No. 18 pick. The Hawks own the No. 19 pick via Minnesota.

Because the Mavericks won the lottery-pick tiebreaker against the Hawks, they will have the lesser of the two teams’ second-round picks. The Hawks own the No. 33 pick overall, and Dallas has No. 34.