3. Determine the long-term plan for Mike Budenholzer
The future of Mike Budenholzer with the Atlanta Hawks franchise appears to be murky.
A year ago, the team completely restructured the organization, as Budenholzer resigned from his title as president of basketball operations, while hiring Travis Schlenk away from the Golden State Warriors to begin a dramatic overhaul.
Even after posting the worst record in the Eastern Conference this season, Budenholzer has a career record of 207-180 (53.5 winning percentage), but Schlenk could be inclined to make his own hire.
Atlanta has not only struggled to find wins on the court, but the fanbase has been tuning the team out.
The Hawks are drawing an average of 14,006 fans per game, the lowest attendance figure in the league, and are in danger of becoming the first team since the 2014-15 Philadelphia 76ers to play in front of less than 14,000 fans a night.
Details of Budenholzer’s contract are unclear, but if Atlanta decides to move on from him, he likely won’t be unemployed for long.