Hawks owner Tony Ressler has shown a “significant interest” in pursuing player agents to run Atlanta’s front office, league sources tell Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
According to Stein and Fischer, Ressler has pursued former Warriors executive Bob Myers — also a former agent — to lead the Hawks’ basketball operations department, but those overtures have been unsuccessful. Stein and Fischer hear that Myers, who is now a consultant for the NFL’s Washington Commanders and an ESPN analyst, will be highly selective if he ever takes another front office job.
Stein and Fischer previously reported that Elton Brand, Calvin Booth and Monte McNair have interviewed for the Hawks’ vacancy, though Sixers GM Brand recently withdrew from consideration. In their latest report, The Stein Line duo add a new name to the list of interviewees: Danny Ferry.
Ferry, who has been a Spurs consultant since 2020, was previously the general manager of the Cavaliers from 2005-10. He also ran the Hawks’ front office from 2012-14.
Ferry was at the center of a controversy in Atlanta after making racially insensitive remarks while reading a scouting report on Luol Deng during an organizational conference call. That incident ultimately led to Ferry stepping down as the Hawks’ general manager in 2015. The 58-year-old former NBA player was hired by the Pelicans as a special advisor in 2016 and briefly served as New Orleans’ interim GM in 2019.
As has been reported multiple times, the Hawks are believed to be seeking a president of basketball operations to oversee the front office, with Onsi Saleh — who was promoted to GM after Landry Fields was fired — working under the new hire.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, Magic senior advisor John Hammond, NBA G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim and former Hawks wing Travis Hansen are among the other names that have been linked to Atlanta’s vacancy. Multiple reports have indicated that Connelly is expected to sign a new deal with Minnesota.