As reported by ESPN, Nate McMillan was fired on Tuesday, opening the door for Quin Snyder to take over as the Atlanta Hawks’ next head coach. The move happened just before the team’s first practice prior to the end of the NBA All-Star break.
As early as Tuesday, new general manager Landry Fields will begin searching for the Hawks’ next coach, which will leave Joe Prunty as the interim coach in the meantime. The Hawks are 29-30 and rank eighth in the Eastern Conference standings.
It wasn’t expected until the offseason for the Hawks to part ways with McMillan, but the move was made with time to salvage a playoff run and pursue the next coach.
During this season, there have been two significant changes in Hawks leadership. On Dec. 21, Travis Schlenk stepped down as the franchise’s president of basketball operations, making way for Fields.
Snyder, 56, has a history as a Hawks assistant coach under Mike Budenholzer, as do two more candidates expected to be part of the process. Among them are Milwaukee Bucks associate head coach Charles Lee and Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson.
Snyder led the Jazz to the Western Conference playoffs in six consecutive seasons, including three semifinal appearances. Snyder is expected to be at the top of several teams’ candidate lists this offseason after resigning after the 2021-22 season.
Atlanta has significant offseason decisions regarding how it wants to shape the roster. The chance to move quickly on a coaching search could give the Hawks a better prism to evaluate the franchise’s future.
This is Prunty’s second stint as interim coach in his career. During the 2018 regular season, Prunty was 21-16 after replacing Jason Kidd. In the opening round of the playoffs, they lost to the Boston Celtics.
McMillan’s leadership led a run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2021 when he replaced Lloyd Pierce as interim coach. His record as head coach was 99-80, and he was awarded a four-year contract.
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