Things are little awkward around the Atlanta Hawks facilities these days. After the team was once again eliminated from the first round of the NBA playoffs, general manager Danny Ferry has promised some changes to the team in order to improve. Those changes could include the release of Josh Smith, the signing of Dwight Howard and possibly a change at head coach. As the future of Larry Drew is up in the air, the Hawks are beginning a head coaching search like Drew is already fired, accept that he has not been fired yet.
Yahoo! Sports reports that the Hawks have interviewed former NBA head coach Nate McMillan for a head coaching job, a head coaching job that does not actually exist. Drew is still under contract with the Hawks, making this a very odd situation. His current deal ends June 30. Atlanta must decide if they will offer him an extension or move on with someone else. Instead of dealing with the pending contract first, Ferry has decided to just go ahead and interview candidates for a position not yet vacant.
Ferry is likely going to see what his options are first before deciding about Drew's future. Atlanta's Plan A is likely a new coach while Plan B is Drew. If they are unable to get their top options, then Drew gets award an extension and will stay with the team that is clearly not satisfied with him. Drew has been with the Hawks for three years, bringing them to the playoffs each time.
At 48, McMillan has coached for 12 teams in the NBA. Most recently he was head coach of the Portland Trailblazers before being released. He led that team to three straight playoff appearances, all ended with first-round losses. Sound familiar? McMillan comes with a career record of 478-452.
The Hawks top option is former Magic head coach, Stan Van Gundy. Ferry has reached out to Van Gundy to see what interest he has in returning to the NBA. While Van Gundy has yet to say what the chances are that he returns as head coach, he has spoken about his admiration for Ferry and respects the Hawks organization.
Atlanta plans on making a big push for Dwight Howard in free agency and Van Gundy could be the guy that lands him. At this moment, the Hawks cannot even begin to think about Howard before they first decide what to do with Drew.