3:44pm: Mike Budenholzer has been discussing with Hawks ownership the possibility of eliminating his duties as president of basketball operations and focusing on coaching the team, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter) that the Hawks continue to discuss Wilcox’s role, and resolution could come later today.
With Wilcox apparently on the outs and Budenholzer potentially taking on a reduced role, there would be at least one major opening in Atlanta’s front office. However, as the team’s statement below notes, nothing is official yet.
3:31pm: “There are no changes to report at this time,” the Hawks said in a statement issued to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). “Any reports indicating otherwise are inaccurate.”
The Hawks’ statement stops short of declaring that Wilcox isn’t going anywhere, simply suggesting there are no changes to announce “at this time.” That likely means that the move just hasn’t yet been made official, but we’ll continue to follow the story to see if anything changes.
2:59pm: With their season over, the Hawks are parting ways with general manager Wes Wilcox, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman and Marc Spears. While head coach Mike Budenholzer is also the president of basketball operations in Atlanta, Wilcox had played a key role in the department and in making personnel decisions.
Wilcox, who was originally hired by the Hawks as an assistant general manager back in 2012, took over as the team’s GM in 2015. The club was coming off a 60-win season at that time, but has since seen its win total slip to 48 in 2015/16 and then to 43 in 2016/17. The Hawks were eliminated from the postseason in the first round this season, a year after losing Al Horford in free agency, and Atlanta will now face the possibility of watching Paul Millsap walk as well, though owner Tony Ressler has said the organization will do all it can to retain the veteran big man.
[RELATED: Paul Millsap says he’ll likely opt out of contract]
Although the team lost Horford last summer, it was still an active offseason for the Hawks, who traded Jeff Teague and then signed Kent Bazemore and Dwight Howard to pricey long-term deals. Bazemore saw his numbers slip in the first year of his new contract, while Taurean Prince – who was drafted with the pick acquired in the Teague trade – didn’t make much of an impact in his rookie season. As for Howard, he reportedly expressed some displeasure during his exit interview about his role in Atlanta.
Wilcox originally received his promotion when racially-charged remarks made by Danny Ferry about Luol Deng led to Ferry’s resignation. Wilcox found himself in a similar – albeit less publicized – situation earlier this year, when a Deadspin report indicated that the Hawks GM had made a joke in poor taste at a season-ticket holder event. Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reported at the time that Wilcox received discipline from the organization following that incident, though there’s no indication it played a major part – or any part – in his dismissal.
While Wilcox’s ouster wasn’t necessarily expected, a recent report did suggests that the Hawks may make front office changes to get new voices involved in basketball decisions.
What’s up with the “white power” t-shirts in the photo?