New Hawks coach Quin Snyder facing difficult midseason transition

ATLANTA (AP) — Quin Snyder was more than justthe first coaching candidate contacted when Atlanta Hawks generalmanager Landry Fields began looking to replace Nate McMillan.

Snyder was the only candidate interviewed by Fields.

“Everything we were looking for, it was check, check, check,”Fields said of his conversation with Snyder, the former Utah Jazzcoach, who was introduced on Monday as the Hawks’ new coach. Fieldssaid finding the right fit immediately with Snyder “was a bigmoment.”

Snyder will make his Atlanta debut on Tuesday night, when theHawks play at home against Washington. Joe Prunty, who was 2-0 asthe interim coach, will remain on the bench beside Snyder.

The Hawks announced Snyder’s hiring on a five-year deal onSunday night, only five days after McMillan was fired with the teammired in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

The announcement was not a surprise. Fields confirmed onWednesday that Snyder was a candidate.

Fields hopes the Hawks, currently in position for a spot in theplay-in tournament, can finish the regular season strong underSnyder and earn a playoff spot as one of the top six teams in theEast.

The Hawks (31-30) have struggled to reclaim the success theyenjoyed under McMillan in reaching the 2021 Eastern Conferencefinals. The expectation to find that winning formula is nowtransferred to Snyder in a potentially difficult transition so latein the season.

“It’s always a challenge, but those challenges are often mostrewarding and the best opportunity,” Snyder said.

He acknowledged that the decision to take over the job now,instead of waiting until after the season, wasn’t easy.

“As I thought about it, I think the opportunity to come in now,although maybe challenging, is also an opportunity to hopefully goon a run,” Snyder said. “Also, and I think these things are notmutually exclusive, to begin to build a foundation, a culture.”

Snyder, 56, was an assistant on Mike Budenholzer’s Hawks staffin the 2013-14 season.

He was 372-264 as Utah’s coach from the 2014-15 to 2021-22seasons, finishing with six consecutive playoff seasons. Eventhough the Jazz never advanced past the Western Conferencesemifinals, the winning record would have made Snyder an attractivecandidate to other teams who may make coaching changes after theseason.

The timing of the Hawks’ change created an opening for Fields tohave exclusive conversations with Snyder.

Fields said that opportunity to be first in line with Snyder hadno bearing on his decision to fire McMillan during the All-Starbreak. Fields said he was motivated to make a move because hebelieved the Hawks were not fulfilling their potential underMcMillan.

“We had two separate things going on — what is the state of ourteam right now and how we can best serve them and set us up for endof the season success following the All-Star break and then how arewe going to position ourselves as an organization,” Fields said,adding “that doesn’t necessitate that Quin was going to take overat midseason. It wasn’t a huge factor for us. I knew that first andforemost we had to address our ballclub and that’s what wedid.”

Snyder said the opportunity in Atlanta “lined up just right”with what he was looking for in his next coaching job after leavingUtah following last season.

New Hawks assistant general manager Kyle Korver played forSnyder in Atlanta and Utah. Korver gave Snyder positive reviewsabout Fields. Snyder said he believes the Hawks provide “thecharacter in the front office” he sought.

“I wanted to find that type of partnership and I know that’s whythis situation, I think, is such a good fit for me personally,”Snyder said, adding that he and Korver “have been friends for along time. … His feelings about Landry, everything was affirmedthat I had heard about Landry.”

Snyder met with Atlanta players on Monday morning. Some players,including Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic, attended theafternoon news conference. The team’s biggest star, point guardTrae Young, was not in attendance.