What OKC Thunder learned from Mike Budenholzer's visit

Visiting the practice facility, Mike Budenholzer caught up with Sam Presti and others. Cross-armed on the bench, the one-time NBA champion shared war stories with his former colleague and shared his opinion on league-wide trends with Mark Daigneault. During this latest homestand, Budenholzer spent time around the Oklahoma City Thunder .

He's taken the year off after being fired by the Phoenix Suns following his sole season there in 2024-25. Of course, most know about the two-time Coach of the Year winner. Budenholzer was the Atlanta Hawks' head coach from 2013-18 and the Milwaukee Bucks' from 2018-23.

In the latter, he brought home the Larry O'Brien trophy alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021. With that type of pedigree, he had a lot of intangibles to offer the reigning NBA champions. “He and Sam worked together in San Antonio.

There was a previous relationship there. Sam invited him in. I knew him from coaching against him and from limited interactions," Daigneault said.