Danny Ferry (Vice President of Basketball Operations – San Antonio Spurs) is almost like a free agent amongst General Managers right now in the NBA, as ESPN’s Chris Broussard is reporting that the Atlanta Hawks are looking into the possibility of Ferry becoming their next GM. If you recall, Ferry is also being recruited by the Philadelphia 76ers to take over the role of their GM position.
According to Broussard, the Hawks’ current GM, Rick Sund, will either be resigning his position on June 30 or taking a different position within the organization. Broussard states that his sources thinks the Hawks have the lead in Ferry’s services because they are willing to offer him full control of the team and movement within the organization. Where as in Philadelphia, head coach Doug Collins is said to want more control over the GM and he wants all player decisions to go through him.
The Hawks finished the regular season with the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference, but there are some major personnel moves that must be made in this offseason. Though the Hawks still have their core of Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Jeff Teague, and Al Horford under contract, they have nine players who will become free agents on July 1. Among those free agents is point guard Kirk Hinrich, plus Smith is an expiring contract who will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2013.
It’ll be interesting to see what Ferry’s decision will be and which team he chooses through this process.