Andy Birdsong Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Hire Andy Birdsong As Assistant GM

May 27th, 2019 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets continue to reinforce their front office after losing a pair of key executives this spring, announcing today in a press release that they’ve hired Andy Birdsong as a new assistant general manager. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Birdsong, who started his career in San Antonio in 2011, headed to Atlanta in 2012 and served three years as the Hawks’ manager of basketball operations. He later returned to the Spurs as their director of basketball operations before being promoted to director of player personnel and G League GM in 2016. He has served in those roles for the last three years.

“Andy is an accomplished basketball executive who brings a wealth of experience in talent evaluation and roster construction to our front office team,” Nets GM Sean Marks said in a statement. “The knowledge he has garnered from his time as a member of such exemplary organizations as the Spurs and the Hawks will greatly benefit our group.”

Birdsong is the second executive to join the Nets’ front office on this long weekend, as the team also hired Jeff Peterson in an assistant GM role on Saturday. The duo will help replace top Marks lieutenants Trajan Langdon, who was hired by the Pelicans, and Gianluca Pascucci, who accepted a job with the Timberwolves.

Spurs Hire Monty Williams, Landry Fields

September 16th, 2016 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have added former Pelicans head coach Monty Williams to their basketball operations staff, the team announced today in a press release. According to the club, Williams will take on the role of vice president of basketball operations.

Within today’s announcement, the Spurs also confirmed several other hires and promotions, and one of the most notable names is a player who has only been away from the NBA for one year. San Antonio has hired former Knicks and Raptors swingman Landry Fields as a college scout, per the team’s press release.

In addition to hiring Williams and Fields, the Spurs also named Brian Wright the club’s assistant general manager, Andy Birdsong as the director of pro player personnel and the GM of the D-League’s Austin Spurs, Pat Sund as a pro personnel scount and Austin’s assistant GM, and Will Hardy as an assistant coach.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported back in July that Williams had a standing job offer from the Spurs, though it wasn’t known at the time what sort of role the team envisioned for him. Williams was an assistant with the Thunder last season, but took a leave of absence in February when his wife, Ingrid, was killed in a car crash. Before joining Oklahoma City’s staff, he spent five seasons as head coach in New Orleans, compiling a 173-221 record. He also spent time as a Spurs player under Gregg Popovich from 1996 to 1998, and was a coaching intern with the team in 2004/05.

When Stein first reported the Spurs’ offer to Williams, he noted that the longtime coach had received similar offers from other organizations, including the Thunder, and that he “absolutely” wants to become an NBA head coach again. However, as Stein pointed out, Williams’ in-laws live in San Antonio and have been helping to care for his five children, making that an ideal landing spot for now.

As for Fields, we heard last September that he would be sidelined for most of the 2015/16 campaign with a hip injury. His on-court production had also declined significantly, so it’s no surprise he didn’t land with a team at all last season. It’s not clear whether he has decided to transition into the next stage of his career, or if he’d still consider a comeback at some point.

A recent report indicated that many people within the Spurs organization expect Tim Duncan to take on a full-time role with the team at some point, but if that’s going to happen, it will likely happen down the road — Duncan wasn’t mentioned at all in today’s announcement.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.