Why are Hawks hiring Quin Snyder? Former Jazz coach set to lead Atlanta after resigning in Utah last season
Ranked No. 8 in the Eastern Conference, the Hawks won’t have the advantage to rest on their laurels after firing Nate McMillan on Tuesday. Hiring a coach is paramount for a fringe playoff team looking to run away from star guard Trae Young, and the Hawks have chosen longtime Jazz coach and former Hawks assistant Quin Snyder.
Snyder, who was an assistant with the Hawks for one season and coached the Jazz for eight seasons, amassed a 372-264 record with the Jazz and led Utah to the playoffs in his last six years. He had a 21-33 record in the playoffs and was 3-6 in the postseason series. Ultimately, Snyder retired from jazz following the 2021–22 season.
On Feb. 26, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Hawks and Snyder reached an agreement on a five-year contract that will cover the remainder of the 2022-23 NBA season.
Will Snyder be the guy to lead the Hawks to the playoffs? The Sporting News breaks down the rent below.
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Why are the Hawks hiring Quin Snyder?
With the Hawks sitting in basketball limbo this season — at .500 and the Eastern Conference play-in tournament — it’s not that easy to end the year and try again in the offseason. The Hawks are stuck in the teeth of Trae Young’s extension and Dejounte Murray should help them get on a run this year, so the search had to start and end with someone with experience.
Snyder has that in spades. He took a Jazz team struggling to find an identity and turned it into a enduring playoff team even if the Jazz never got where it wanted to. He also has experience dealing with ball-dominant guards like Donovan Mitchell, which will come in handy when dealing with Young.
Wojnarowski shared more about the decision behind the hiring, citing the importance of timing and an already budding relationship with Young.
The move to immediately acquire the Hawks is rooted in both a desire to make an Eastern Conference playoff run and give Snyder a chance to begin implementing his program and standards and empowering the franchise’s players on the Evaluate way into the off-season, sources said.
Snyder and All-Star Guard Trae Young are both excited to begin working together and this partnership will be instrumental in the success of the franchise’s future.
Snyder’s positive overall record with the Jazz and his playoff pedigree make him a solid option for a team hoping to make a playoff run this season. Though the Hawks start behind the line they aim to be, it only takes a playoff spot to wreak havoc in the NBA.
While the experience doesn’t always translate one-to-one in the coaching world, Snyder will look to make Young and Clint Capela a new Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in Atlanta. However, he’s also hoping to raise the cap from his time in Utah, where he never made it past the conference semifinals.
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Why didn’t Quin Snyder coach the Hornets?
Snyder was heavily linked with the Charlotte Hornets after they fired James Borrego after last season, but he ultimately declined to sign with them and the Hornets brought in Steve Clifford after a saga that ended in a broken agreement by the current Warriors -Assistant Kenny Atkinson included.
Although the pen was never put to paper, Snyder’s connections to Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak made it easy for him to draw a line as a target.
After the Kings hired Mike Brown as their coach, leaving the Hornets as their last available job, it made more sense that Snyder would go there. However, he sat on the carousel overall last offseason.
Arguably the best manager out there, Snyder is a viable candidate for a team looking to make a late-season push. With their roster and playoff ambitions, the Hawks fit that bill well.