Hawks 'zeroing in' on new head coach

Atlanta fired head coach Nate McMillan after the Hawks went into the All-Star break with a disappointing 29-30 record. 

ESPN reported that the Hawks were looking for an "organizational reset," during a season where they also reassigned their team president, fired many top executives and hired a new general manager, Landry Fields.

The Hawks' desire for Snyder comes from their belief that he can be a "culture starter." They've had a virtual meeting with Snyder already, hoping to lock him in as their next coach as soon as possible. That may have influenced the timing of McMillan's firing. Ditching McMillan now gave them a head start on recruiting Snyder.

Snyder has an unusual background for a head coach, having earned a law degree and an MBA from Duke after his college playing career with the Blue Devils. He coached at Missouri from 1999-2006, a stretch that was successful on the court - the Tigers reached the Elite Eight in 2002 - and packed with scandals. 

After that, Snyder had a very successful run coaching the G League's Austin Toros for three years. He was the lead assistant for Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta during the 2013-14 season before the Utah Jazz hired him as their head coach in 2014. He made the playoffs in the last six of his eight years with the Jazz, after Utah's own "organizational reset," but the Jazz never made it out of the second round with their duo of Rudy Gobert-Donovan Mitchell.

Atlanta needs a steadying influence because the front office has a lot of young and inexperienced personnel. The owner's 27-year-old son, Nick Ressler, reportedly has a "major influence" over decision-making. Fields is just 34 years old. Pro personnel scout Grant Liffman was a TV host for the Golden State Warriors before this season. Cap coordinator Ryan Silverstein is Ressler's close friend, and graduated college in 2017.

The owner himself, Tony Ressler, has taken more of an active role with basketball decisions after Atlanta's unexpected run to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, believing the team was ready to seriously compete. That sparked the team's trade for Dejounte Murray and likely led to the front office reshuffling.

How will it go with Snyder? 

He has a great track record, and the Hawks believe he can make players accountable, specifically star guard Trae Young. But it may not depend on Young as much as it depends on Ressler and his family giving Snyder the chance to build team culture without looking voer his shoulder for the team owner. Or his son.