On Monday, the Atlanta Hawks were front and center of the NBA headlines as they announced the firing of general manager Landry Fields, in a move which came three days following their season coming to an end after their 123-114 loss to the Miami Heat on Friday in the Eastern Conference play-in game for the eighth seed in the playoffs.
And while the team instantly replaced Fields with Onsi Selah, who was previously with the Golden State Warriors prior to joining the Hawks, as their new general manager, they also announced they will begin a search for a president of basketball operations. “I don’t know what the Hawks want,” Carl Dukes said on Monday in regards to being asked by a listener who would be a lead candidate for the position as he and Mike Bell reacted to the breaking news of the Fields’ release.
“I can tell you that the best franchises in the NBA if you wanted to go pluck somebody out of there is OKC and Boston,” Dukes continued, noting teams he believes have found a way to build competitive franchises and may have someone on staff who would be an ideal candidate for the Hawks.
However, as their conversation continued Dukes questioned the timing of the Fields’ firing and the afternoon duo shared their thoughts on what may have led to the move and how the team moves forward.
“Is this simply, we’re in the play-in again, we’re not seeing the progress we need, Landry has to go. Or was this we need somebody who sees the big picture of things and maybe Landry just didn’t,” Dukes said as he explained why the Hawks’ decision may have been a result in the team believing Fields did not have the vison to build the team into a better franchise around Trae Young and will now have to decide whether or not to move on from Young.