The Atlanta Hawks have shaken up their front office, with head coach Mike Budenholzer stepping down from his role as president of basketball operations and Wes Wilcox moving from general manager to an advisory role.
Thus, on top of trying to figure out the Paul Millsap situation this summer, as the All-Star forward looks likely to opt out of the final year of his contract, the Hawks will also have to fill two very important roles in the front office: president of basketball operations and GM.
According to a report Friday from Marc Stein, two leading candidates for the open positions will be former Pistons executive Joe Dumars and current Cavs GM David Griffin.
League sources say Joe Dumars and David Griffin are expected to emerge as candidates in the Hawks' search for a new lead front-office voice
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 5, 2017
Dumars, of course, played alongside Hawks minority owner Grant Hill in Detroit; Griffin was a Suns executive when Hill arrived in Phoenix
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 5, 2017
David Griffin is still the GM of the Cavaliers, and is also drawing plenty of attention from the Orlando Magic, who are reportedly interested in offering him the role of president with the club. As for Dumars, he was the president of basketball operations for the Pistons from 2000-2014, and is also reportedly drawing interest from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Both Griffin (2016) and Dumars (2004) have helped put together championship teams, and, as Stein notes, have connections to Grant Hill, a minority owner of the Hawks.
While Griffin is not under contract after this season, he likely won't be available until after the Cavs' run is over, which could be sometime in June. It will be interesting to see if the Hawks are willing to wait that long to fill the position, especially with such an important summer coming up for them.
Regardless of who they end up hiring, it's sure to be another interesting offseason in Atlanta.
