The Atlanta Hawks are already searching for a new head coach following the recent sacking of former skipper Nate McMillan, and it looks like veteran coach Quin Snyder may be at the very top of the team’s wish list.
Snyder recently enjoyed a solid coaching stint with the Utah Jazz, and it seems as though the Hawks like his ability to hold star players like Trae Young accountable.
Hawks zeroing in on potential hiring of Quin Snyder as Atlanta's new head coach, sources say. More: pic.twitter.com/JWpCHruFUi
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 23, 2023
“A major factor in the pursuit of Snyder is his ability to be a culture starter and his ability to enhance the culture in Atlanta, including holding players accountable from Trae Young on down,” Shams Charania reported.
Charania added that the interest is mutual.
The Hawks seemed like a team destined to accomplish big things prior to the start of the 2022-23 season, and Young was of course at the center of all those big goals. The other player that figured to lead the Hawks to a successful season was fellow guard Dejounte Murray.
Murray was added by the Hawks in the 2022 offseason through a trade with the San Antonio Spurs.
Unfortunately, things have not gone as planned for the Hawks this season, and they seem destined to finish in the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference once again. They advanced out of the play-in tournament last season to enter the playoff bracket, but they were quickly eliminated in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Surely, fans would not be shocked if the team followed a similar path this season.
As for Snyder, he concluded an eight-year tenure with Utah last season. During his time with the Jazz, he helped the team reach the playoffs in each of his final six seasons. However, he and the Jazz were never able to make it out of the second round in the West.
In Utah, Snyder coached stars like Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. While there were often rumors about the two stars not being all that fond of one another, the drama never did really seem to boil over onto the court in a big way.
That is likely one of the examples that the Hawks are looking at in terms of Snyder keeping a handle on his stars.
Joe Prunty may be Atlanta’s head coach for the rest of the 2022-23 season, but once the current campaign is in the books, it seems like Snyder could be the next man up for the organization.
