The Atlanta Hawks are in need for a new GM and it looks like they may have their eye on one particular person currently working for ESPN right now.
The Hawks are scheduled to interview former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Chauncey Billups for their GM position. This is according to some league sources.
This interview is expected to occur on Tuesday in LA, where Billups is currently, analyzing the playoffs for ESPN. The Hawks are believed to not drag out the hiring process, so they are hoping to get this interview over and done with before possibly moving on to other candidates, if they decide Billups isn't the right fit.
According to ESPN's Marc Stein, the Hawks have also reached out to Wizards vice president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard and Warriors assistant general manager Travis Schlenk, though it reamins to be seen whether or not they'll take the interview.
Mike Budenholzer, the current head coach of the Hawks, was stripped of his responsibility as president of baksetball operations and Wes Wilcox, the former GM, was resassigned to become the special advisor to ownership. The fact that Budenholzer was stripped of his president job means that the Hawks ownership didn't want Budenholzer handling both roles.
This new GM search is troubling for the Hawks, considering that their star player Paul Millsap is entering free agency and if he doesn't get a contract that he likes, he could walk. It's possible that the Hawks are hoping that Billups, if he comes aboard, can convince Millsap to take less money and try to be the leader of this team.
The one thing I do like about Chuancey Billups is that he is able to communicate the game and get people to follow him. I thought originally he was going to be a head coach first, then possibly get into management at one point, if he decides to leave his current job, but maybe the GM could be the right path for him.
The thing is, Atlanta is not an attractive job and I doubt they could get a lot out of the draft, plus free agents, to really make it matter. They have Dwight Howard, who is not what he used to be, and one guy in Paul Millsap, who could possibly be leaving. I don't know if Billups is willing to take on a role that might see him possibly rebuilding the team.
Look, if Billups wants to take this job, then I give him all the luck in the world. But to me, Atlanta is not attractive, plus there's a lot of questions surrounding the rest of this team going into the offseason. In my personal opinion, he should wait for a better job to come around, or maybe a head coaching job. I don't know. But if Billups takes it and wants to build this team, then I say good luck in the world to him.
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