Hawks officially hire ESPN reporter to front office

The Atlanta Hawks have it as their mission not only to get better on the court, but off the court as well. That’s why they’ve recently announced the hire of Tim Bontemps as the strategic advisor for the team, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Brian Windhorst. Bontemps was a senior writer for ESPN, covering the NBA since 2012.

At ESPN, Bontemps focused on team strategy, player movement and league trends. He was the co-host of The Hoop Collective podcast along with McMahon and Windhorst. He joined ESPN in 2018 after spending three years as the national NBA writer for The Washington Post.

It looks like the Hawks want to use what Bontemps has been able to contribute at ESPN over the past few years, and it should be key to helping them improve all areas of their team.

The Hawks have had somewhat of a busy offseason already, trading for players, as well as re-signing some of their own free agents. CJ McCollum and Jock Landale were re-signed after their contributions to the Hawks in the second half of last season, which helped them grab the No. 6 seed and make the playoffs.

As for new players, the Hawks traded for Aaron Wiggins from the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he should be a solid piece to come off the bench. They also traded for Devin Carter from the Sacramento Kings, and he’ll be a part of the guard depth.

The Hawks added three players in the NBA Draft, and they’re showing flashes already in the Salt Lake City Summer League. It’s uncertain how much playing time they’ll get when the season starts, but the Hawks are building a foundation of young players to develop, while also still trying to compete. The plan seemed to work last season, and the hope is that it continues.