Hawks Restructure Front Office

[Jamaaliver]

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The Hawks are a team in turmoil – on and off the court.

Again.

Headed into Monday afternoon’s game against the Heat, they are 21-22, ninth in the conference, after back-to-back road wins. A sense of dysfunction that once overwhelmed the organization is back. There are issues in the front office and coaching staff that run deep.

There became a struggle in the front office with the increased role of Nick Ressler, the 27-year-old son of the principal owner. Nick Ressler began as the coordinator of basketball operations in 2018-19. He has since moved into the role of director of basketball and business operations.

There have also been issues with head coach Nate McMillan, who according to several people familiar with the situation has tried to step down this season. McMillan signed a four-year contract in July of 2021 after leading the Hawks to the conference finals as interim head coach, taking over for Lloyd Pierce. McMillan was convinced to stay on.

Despite the Hawks convincing McMillan to remain, it is becoming more and more likely that he will not return next season. In fact, in a recent meeting with the Resslers, a player agent was told that McMillan would not be back next season. Fields and Korver both denied speaking with agents about McMillan’s position in the organization.

The Hawks organization is concerned with the outward image of turmoil. The move to make Schlenk a special advisor and to keep McMillan is an attempt to portray stability.

AJC.com

[Jamaaliver]

Sounds like this would be the adult in the room going forward:

Per SHAMS --

Code: Select all

The Hawks are in serious talks to hire Spurs executive and former Cavaliers GM Chris Grant as a senior adviser in Landry Fields’ front office, sources said. Grant, a well-respected exec, spent nine years in the Hawks’ organization (1996-2005) before serving as an assistant GM and GM for the Cavaliers from 2005 to 2014.

The Athletic

Charania’s colleague Sam Amick previously reported that Atlanta was considering adding a veteran executive to a relatively inexperienced group headed by general manager Landry Fields. Grant certainly fits that bill, having begun working for NBA teams back in 1996, when he was hired by these same Hawks.

By the end of Grant’s initial tenure in Atlanta, he had been promoted to vice president of basketball operations and assistant GM. He was hired away from the Hawks by the Cavaliers in 2005 and worked under Danny Ferry until 2010, when he became Cleveland’s GM, a position he held until 2014. In recent years, Grant has worked in the Spurs’ scouting department.

Hoops Rumors

[jayu70]

Sounds like this would be the adult in the room going forward:

Per SHAMS --

Code: Select all

The Hawks are in serious talks to hire Spurs executive and former Cavaliers GM Chris Grant as a senior adviser in Landry Fields’ front office, sources said. Grant, a well-respected exec, spent nine years in the Hawks’ organization (1996-2005) before serving as an assistant GM and GM for the Cavaliers from 2005 to 2014.

The Athletic

Charania’s colleague Sam Amick previously reported that Atlanta was considering adding a veteran executive to a relatively inexperienced group headed by general manager Landry Fields. Grant certainly fits that bill, having begun working for NBA teams back in 1996, when he was hired by these same Hawks.

By the end of Grant’s initial tenure in Atlanta, he had been promoted to vice president of basketball operations and assistant GM. He was hired away from the Hawks by the Cavaliers in 2005 and worked under Danny Ferry until 2010, when he became Cleveland’s GM, a position he held until 2014. In recent years, Grant has worked in the Spurs’ scouting department.

Hoops Rumors

Wasn't he the Cavs GM at the time that was connected to the Cavs Luol Deng report that Danny Ferry read?

[Jamaaliver]

Wasn't he the Cavs GM at the time that was connected to the Cavs Luol Deng report that Danny Ferry read?

[jayu70]

Wasn't he the Cavs GM at the time that was connected to the Cavs Luol Deng report that Danny Ferry read?

that made me

[Jamaaliver]

Man, we're toxic right now. Though I suspect this dude just didn't want to rehash the whole Luol thing...

Grown ups seem to be keeping their distance.

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[Jamaaliver]

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In an interview Friday, Ressler insisted he isn't involved in making basketball personnel decisions and has fully empowered Fields, his general manager, to make roster and coaching decisions.

"Having ownership, a front office, a coaching staff and the right roster -- when all of those folks work well together, I think results improve. That was the objective, and that's why I made the change that I did."

Ressler told ESPN that he made the decision to move Travis Schlenk, then president of basketball operations, into an advisory role in late December because he was displeased with the front office's level of "collaboration and communication" in the wake of consecutive .500 seasons after a trip to the 2021 Eastern Conference finals.

Schlenk has been credited with significantly upgrading the Hawks' roster after taking over in 2017, including drafting Trae Young, De'Andre Hunter, John Collins and Kevin Huerter and making trades for Dejounte Murray, Clint Capela and Bojan Bogdanovic. Schlenk was awarded three contract extensions and a promotion to president of basketball operations in his time with the Hawks and is expected to be a candidate for high-level front office jobs elsewhere.

The Hawks wanted Snyder to start immediately to allow for him to start implementing his system, build relationships with players, and evaluate the talent and fit ahead of possible offseason decisions on personnel.

"What I've always done is rely on people who know more than I do to run a business better than I could," Ressler told ESPN. "Who makes the decisions [now], it's undoubtedly Landry with Kyle -- with Quin. [They] are going to work beautifully together from what I can tell. I do believe we will make better decisions going forward than we have done in the past."

ESPN.com

[jayu70]

Tony Ressler radio interview
https://www.audacy.com/929thegame/authors/dukes-bell

[jayu70]

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?s=20

Q: How much of a voice does your son, Nick, have in some of the decision-making of the organization and running some of the basketball operations?

A: I fully acknowledge, for whatever it’s worth, that my son, who I’m so proud of doing a great job, has a voice in the organization. But by no means does he make any of these decisions. Again, when I don’t give an interview about what happened, it seems people create things, and I’m trying to put those to bed. So the simple answer is, Nick works in the organization, helps me in both the business and basketball operations, helps me understand the goings-on of the organization, if you will, helps me evaluate what we’re doing. But he sits in the same role (I do). He’s in ownership, but is full time to the organization. So the simple answer, is ‘No, he’s not in charge of any decision-making.’ Our GM and our assistant GM and our prior leadership was in charge, then our current leadership is in charge, now.

The idea of even responding to this for anyone that works here or knows, I don’t know who came up with that. It’s actually untrue. And a bit unfair, actually, to Nick and to me. You should accuse me, which by the way, I’m delighted with making bad decisions. And you have every right or every fan, certainly every writer, every member of the press, has every right to criticize the decisions. But please don’t suggest that I delegated any authority to anyone because it’s just not true. So yes, I decided that our front office wasn’t working well. So I changed it. And today, for what it’s worth, I couldn’t be more delighted. Our new front office felt that we should change and make a change in coaching for a whole bunch of reasons that I thought made perfect sense to me after hearing them. And for what it’s worth, we made that change as well. And we are as an organization, delighted with where we are for sure. So, that is exactly what occurred. And the front office, to me today, is beautifully positioned, and maybe as importantly, all rowing in the same direction, from ownership, to leadership, to coaching, to player. So, I feel like we’ve not had this level of communication throughout the organization in quite some time. I’m delighted.

[Jamaaliver]

Jeff Schultz has taken criticism over the years for ignoring the Hawks 95% of the time. But he has always asked hard questions to those in positions of power without fail. Going toe-to-toe with a billionaire is always an impressive feat.

A great read to hear someone finally challenge Tony publicly.

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Jeff: Nobody has written you didn’t have the right to do what you want as the owner. People have written about dysfunction.

Ressler: Give me an example of dysfunction.

Jeff: Certainly Nick has been referenced a lot.

Ressler: Untrue. He has never been in a position to make a decision. Never once. Even the thought of it is so embarrassing to me. One, he’s done a great job working here. Two, he’s my son and I love him. Three, the idea that I’m running whatever billions of dollars this asset is worth with others owners and investors that I’d delegate one bit of my authority to Nick or anyone else is disrespectful, untrue, inaccurate. So who made that up?

Jeff: Nobody to my knowledge has written that Nick made decisions. What has been written is that he’s not just a voice but a significant voice because he is your son and he has made other people uncomfortable because he can’t be viewed as just another voice in the room.

Ressler: It’s untrue.

Jeff: What part?

Ressler: That he made people uncomfortable.

Jeff: Tony, we’ve talked to those people.

Ressler: Who? Do they still work here? Look, the idea that you’re using former employees for a narrative that is untrue. The simple answer is we have a front office today that works beautifully, where Nick is one of many voices and frankly an unbelievably positive and supportive voice. And if you ask anyone who works here they would tell you yes.

Jeff: Let me just state that the uncomfortableness and the talk, not just from within your organization and around the league, was around long before these past several months when you made the front office change.

The Athletic

[Jamaaliver]

Tony got maaaaaaaaad...

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[Jamaaliver]

It's happening again:

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[jayu70]

Lil Nicky whispering in Daddy's ear!

[Jamaaliver]

Lil Nicky whispering in Daddy's ear!

Or sitting on daddy's lap.

[jayu70]

Lil Nicky whispering in Daddy's ear!

Or sitting on daddy's lap.

Rumor is Nicky is convincing his Daddy to pay the tax. Offseason kicks off tomorrow, so we shall see.

[Jamaaliver]

Rumor is Nicky is convincing his Daddy to pay the tax. Offseason kicks off tomorrow, so we shall see.

Nick's negotiating tactic in every one-on-one meeting with Dad:

Spoiler:

[jayu70]

Rumor is Nicky is convincing his Daddy to pay the tax. Offseason kicks off tomorrow, so we shall see.

Nick's negotiating tactic in every one-on-one meeting with Dad:

Spoiler:

[Jamaaliver]

The official Press Release:

Hawks Announce Basketball Operations Leadership Promotions and Hires

The Atlanta Hawks today announced a series of promotions and hires within its basketball operations leadership group; Dotun Akinwale Jr. has been promoted to vice president of player personnel, Michelle Leftwich to senior vice president of salary cap administration, Grant Liffmann to vice president of basketball operations, Dan Martinez to senior vice president of team operations, Tori Miller to vice president of player personnel and basketball intelligence, Nick Ressler to principal advisor to the governor and Ryan Silverstein to vice president of cap strategy/player personnel. Additionally, veteran NBA agent Chris Emens has been hired as executive advisor, and Blake Johnson has been named director of player engagement.

Akinwale Jr. is in his 11th NBA season and ninth with the Hawks. Since joining the club in 2015, he’s also served as manager of scouting, director of scouting and senior director of player personnel. He came to Atlanta from the Orlando Magic, where he was a basketball operations coordinator after starting as an intern. Akinwale Jr. played collegiately at Thiel College (Pa.), where he earned a degree in Business Administration. He is a native of Germantown, Md.

Leftwich joined the Hawks in 2017 following 22 years at the NBA, including the final 10 as vice president and assistant general counsel, where she worked with Rick Buchanan, the NBA’s general counsel, and Dan Rube, the NBA’s deputy general counsel, on a variety of legal matters. Prior to joining the NBA, Leftwich worked for the New York law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. A native of Buffalo, N.Y., she received her Bachelor of Science degree from Canisius College and her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law.

Liffmann came to the Hawks prior to last season as a pro personnel scout. Before his arrival in Atlanta, he was a television and podcast host and analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area, covering the Golden State Warriors from 2016-22. Liffmann won a Northern California Emmy Award in 2018. The native of Burlingame, Calif. Holds a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from University of California, Berkeley.

Martinez, who will be entering his 24th NBA season and seventh with the Hawks, came to Atlanta in 2017 as senior director of team operations. He spent 17 seasons with the Golden State Warriors, where he finished as senior director of public relations. The native of Petaluma, Calif. began his career in pro sports with the San Francisco Giants in their media relations group. He is a graduate of University of California, Davis.

Miller was previously with the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ NBA G League affiliate, for six seasons. The first woman to hold the title of general manager in the history of the NBA G League, Miller served three seasons as the Skyhawks’ GM after one as assistant general manager and two as manager of basketball operations. Miller worked for the Phoenix Suns from 2014-16 as a basketball operations intern. A native of Decatur, Ga., she is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Business.

Ressler, entering his sixth season with the Hawks, joined the team in 2018 as coordinator of basketball operations after working as an analyst with Tishman Speyer, a Commercial Real Estate firm. He subsequently served as manager of basketball operations for one year and director of business and basketball operations for two seasons. He also has experience in team sales with WME, Wasserman Sports and the NFL Network. Ressler majored in Finance, earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

Silverstein has been with the Hawks for six seasons, beginning as a front office assistant in basketball operations before spending time as a basketball operations coordinator/coaching assistant for the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ NBA G League affiliate. He was later promoted to coordinator of cap strategy and administration in 2020. The University of Michigan graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Sport Management is on track to receive his Juris Doctor from Georgia State University College of Law later this year.

Emens, who spent 21 years with Octagon prior to joining the Hawks, was involved in all aspects of the agency’s basketball division, including client management, contract negotiations and corporate partnerships. Prior to joining Octagon, Emens co-founded Sitesmith, Inc., a start-up focused on supplying web services. The native of Baltimore, Md. is a graduate of Miami University and holds a Masters of Business Administration and Masters in Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Johnson returns to the Hawks, where she previously worked in the community basketball programs group from 2016-21. For the last two years, she was a community support outreach and inclusion lead at I AM ALS, where she worked to expand the reach of community support programs and initiatives to under-resourced populations. Johnson holds a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University, where she also played soccer and was a member of the ACC All-Academic team.

NBA.com

[dms269]

Man am I in the wrong profession.

[Jamaaliver]

(sigh)