In which a particularly divisive (and familiar) name appears.
As the draft lottery and the larger NBA draft cycle of 2025 loom large, the Hawks still have yet to resolve their biggest question at the top of the organization.
After letting go of general manager Landry Fields — simultaneously naming Onsi Saleh to the same position — the Hawks announced they were beginning a search to fill a president position that would step in above Saleh to head the day-by-day operations of the franchise.
In addition to Landry Fields, executives Grant Liffmann, Chris Emens, and a handful of others either reportedly or officially won’t be returning to the front office. This has created some openings down the food chain that also need filling.
It was reported earlier that names like Bob Myers, Tim Connelly, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, John Hammond, and Elton Brand could interview for the position. Now, reportedly, many of those interviews have happened, and some new names have emerged for the open position (as well as those who removed themselves from consideration).
Just yesterday, Marc Stein and Jake L. Fischer posted an update to Stein’s substack, the Stein Line, about the continued search for a President of Basketball Operations, as well as the types of resumes the Hawks would like to fill out the front office.
League sources say that Hawks owner Tony Ressler has pursued former Warriors executive Bob Myers for the post but without success … like his Suns counterpart Mat Ishbia.
Myers, 50, has made it clear to interested teams that he plans to be selective in the extreme when it comes to deciding whether to return to front officing after winning four championships with the Warriors. Myers, remember, holds a lucrative consulting gig with the NFL’s Washington Commanders in addition to his TV work with ESPN and, in those roles, can live in Los Angeles where his family wants to be.
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Back to the Hawks: League sources say Ressler, seemingly inspired by Myers’ success in Golden State and likewise by what Leon Rose and Rob Pelinka are doing with the Knicks and Lakers, has shown a significant interest in pursuing established agents to take over Atlanta’s front office and team up with cap strategist Onsi Saleh, whom the Hawks recently promoted to general manager.
Danny Ferry has formally interviewed for Atlanta’s president of basketball operations vacancy, league sources tell The Stein Line.
Ferry’s re-emergence as a candidate for the lead front office post in Atlanta comes a decade after his removal from the same post. In June 2014, Ferry read aloud from a report filed by an unidentified scout on a team conference call that included racially insensitive comments about former NBA All-Star Luol Deng and stepped down a year later.
Ferry returned to the NBA as a special advisor in New Orleans entering the 2016-17 season and finished the 2018-19 season as the Pelicans’ interim GM after the dismissal of Dell Demps. He has been with San Antonio since December 2020 in a consultant role in his third front office stint with the Spurs.
Calvin Booth and Monte McNair, dismissed from their GM roles last month by Denver and Sacramento, respectively, are also among the interviewees to date for the Hawks’ job. The Stein Line reported earlier this week that Philadelphia’s Elton Brand has removed himself from consideration after likewise landing an interview.
Atlanta and Denver are the league’s two teams with a current opening for a lead decision-maker.
Would you accept a return for the maligned Danny Ferry to the top personnel position in the organization? Please let me know in the comments.