Steve Koonin Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Pacers, Wizards, Stevens, Hawks, Magic

May 19th, 2021 at 8:31am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers won their play-in game on Tuesday night, while the Wizards lost theirs, meaning the two teams will face one another on Thursday in the Eastern Conference’s final play-in contest with the No. 8 seed up for grabs. The winner will earn the East’s last playoff spot, while the loser goes home.

The Pacers and Wizards had identical 34-38 records in the regular season, but since only one can make the playoffs now, no random tiebreaker will be required to determine which of them has the higher first-round draft pick or the higher spot in the lottery standings. The team that makes the playoffs will end up with the 15th overall pick (or No. 16, if the Spurs make the postseason). The team eliminated on Thursday will get a spot in the late-lottery.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Even before the Celtics won their play-in game on Tuesday, the idea that Brad Stevens‘ job might be in any jeopardy was “just not accurate,” despite the team’s up-and-down season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (video link).
While the Hawks entered the season with playoff expectations, team CEO Steve Koonin admitted in a Q&A with Chris Kirschner of The Athletic that he didn’t expect the team to finish in a tie for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference. “I would say that I think we’ve exceeded all of the expectations we had internally,” Koonin said. “… I think if it wasn’t for the Knicks, this would be the biggest story in the NBA.”
The Magic‘s 21-51 record in 2020/21 was the team’s worst mark since 2014/15, but president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman is very optimistic about the direction of the rebuild, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes. “It’s exciting,” Weltman said. “I’ve never felt more excited about the team since I’ve been here than I do right now.”

Hawks Notes: Howard, Koonin, Reserves

November 10th, 2016 at 5:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The addition of center Dwight Howard and a change in coach Mike Budenholzer’s approach has dramatically improved the Hawks’ offensive rebounding, KL Chouinard of the team’s website relays. The Hawks ranked at the bottom in the NBA in that category last season but sit No. 3 in the early going. Howard leads the league with a 4.9 offensive rebounding average, as the Hawks’ bigs have been given greater freedom to pursue those caroms, Chouinard adds. “I would call it a slight tweak or an emphasis, but not at the expense of transition defense,” Budenholzer told Chouinard. “[It’s] an emphasis of ‘Can we be better on the offensive boards? Can we take advantage of who we have and be more committed there?’ I think the guys have done a nice job of doing that and they have been rewarded.”

In other news regarding the Hawks:

CEO Steve Koonin signed a new three-year contract with the team this summer, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Koonin signed a contract with the previous ownership group in April 2014. Principal owner Tony Ressler, who purchased the team in June 2015, decided to keep Koonin on board. He oversees the team’s business, financial and strategic operations, Vivlamore adds.
The Hawks didn’t spend heavily on their reserves but that unit is paying big dividends, Vivlamore writes in a separate story. Swingman Thabo Sefolosha ($3.85MM salary this season) ranks second in the league in steals (2.6 per game), sixth in field goal percentage (60.0) and sixth in plus/minus rating (plus-78) despite averaging 25 minutes per game. Big man Mike Muscala ($1MM) leads the league in field goal percentage at 66%, while guards Malcolm Delaney ($2.5MM) and Tim Hardaway Jr. rank among the top 20 in plus/minus rating. “Everyone on this team can play, a guy in the starting five, a guy from the bench, everybody can contribute big time,” Sefolosha told Vivlamore. “Different night, different guy steps up.”

Koonin Approved As New Hawks CEO

April 13th, 2014 at 9:23pm CST by Cray Allred

Steve Koonin will become the new Hawks CEO, per Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The team has confirmed the news on its website. NBA owners have approved Koonin for the position. Atlanta sold a minority share of the team in March, which increased the team’s stakeholders to 12. Bruce Levenson will remain the primary owner for the team.

Koonin, who had been serving as president of Turner Entertainment Networks, will own a minority share of the team, as The Associated Press details. He’s spent the past 14 years at Turner, and was previously a marketing executive for Coca-Cola for more than a decade.

Koonin will oversee all business operations for the Hawks, according to the AP. It’s not clear whether he’ll have any say over the team’s basketball side, but it seems as though GM Danny Ferry will maintain autonomy over that department.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.