Wes Wilcox

Hawks GM Danny Ferry Steps Down In Buyout Deal

June 30th, 2015 at 6:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA: Atlanta Hawks-Mike Budenholzer Press Conference

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

JUNE 30th, 6:46pm: The Hawks formally announced the promotions of Budenholzer and Wilcox, according to Vivlamore (on Twitter).

JUNE 25th, 10:38am: New owner Tony Ressler confirmed to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter) that he has a “handshake agreement” with Mike Budenholzer to be president/head coach and Wes Wilcox to be GM.

JUNE 22nd, 11:03am: Ferry has stepped down, the team formally announced via press release.

“This season has proved two things,” Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said in the team’s statement. “First, Danny Ferry is a tremendous GM. Danny was the principal architect of the Hawks’ success in Atlanta. From the hiring of Coach Bud to reinventing the roster, Danny’s vision has put us in the tremendous place we are today. Danny acted with integrity and professionalism as he guided the organization through important changes over the last few years. Second, Danny Ferry is not a racist. Danny showed great leadership in stepping aside in the fall so the season could proceed with as few distractions as possible. He has always put the team first despite the great personal difficulties he endured. Now that the team has identified new ownership, the resolution of Danny’s contract with existing ownership is appropriate. We wish Danny and his family only the best moving forward.”

Budenholzer, who’s also quoted in the statement, lauded Ferry’s roster building, and Ferry spoke as well.

“While the past year has been incredibly difficult and humbling, it is critical for me to clear my name and for people to realize that I have always built a culture of respect, diversity, and honesty,” Ferry said. “Now that the key facts have been made known, I am making the difficult decision to step away from this team and this special group of players. I have seen how gracious and forgiving people can be – especially Luol, who had every right to be hurt and angry after being brought into this situation. I thank him for his forgiveness and support. I also greatly appreciate that our players and coaches have been supportive, along with so many friends, old and new. As the Hawks move to a new chapter, I will continue to support the players and wish them the continued success that they and the fans of Atlanta deserve.”

JUNE 20th, 5:05pm: A law firm commissioned by the Hawks to investigate the comments Ferry made in reference to Deng last year found no wrongdoing on the part of the GM, according to a letter the firm sent to Ferry that multiple Atlanta-area media members obtained, including Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“We reported the results of our work to the Hawks. In summary, the facts indicated that you repeated comments that were not your own about Mr. Deng from a scouting report during the call, and there was no evidence to indicate that during the call you acted in a manner motivated by negative bias toward Mr. Deng, his race or his country of origin,” the letter read in part. “In fact, you strongly recommended Luol Deng and attempted to sign him for the team. Based on the materials reviewed within the scope of the investigation, we did not uncover facts indicating that your repetition of words contained within a scouting report was improperly motivated by race, ethnicity, or country of origin.”

Co-owner Todd Foreman also sent a letter to Ferry stating that “at the heart of this dispute was the unfortunate disagreement amongst owners,” Vivlamore reports. Michael Gearon Jr., a rival of Levenson’s, called for Ferry to be fired after his comments about Deng last year.

2:48pm: Ferry will receive “substantially more” through the buyout deal than his contract called for him to make over the remainder of its term, Vivlamore writes in a full story.

JUNE 19th, 1:20pm: The Hawks board of managers approved the buyout deal with Ferry today, Vivlamore reports, adding that an official announcement is forthcoming in a few days (Twitter link).

3:11pm: The league is expected to approve the new owners on June 24th, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Ferry had hoped that ties to Grant Hill and Jesse Itzler, partners in Ressler’s group, would save his job, but over time, he realized that wouldn’t happen, Zillgitt reports, adding that Ferry indeed wants to return to NBA work.

JUNE 18th, 1:11pm: Hawks officials and Ferry have reached a buyout agreement that will give Ferry more than what the three years remaining on his contract called for him to make, reports Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com. The current owners will assume responsibility for the cost of the buyout, Arnovitz adds. The team’s board of managers will hold a conference call to Friday to approve the buyout terms, according to Arnovitz.

10:45am: No one has told either Budenholzer or Wilcox just yet about any potential changes to their roles, Vivlamore tweets.

9:58am: The Hawks plan to work out deals that install coach and acting GM Mike Budenholzer as president and coach, promote assistant GM Wes Wilcox to GM, and allow the team to part ways with GM Danny Ferry, who’s been on a leave of absence since September, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The plan appears to emanate from the team’s incoming ownership, led by Tony Ressler, who, league sources told Wojnarowski, will make contract negotiations with Budenholzer and Wilcox their first priority upon receiving league approval for their purchase of the franchise. Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in mid-May that the approval process was expected to be finished on a timetable that would finalize the sale sometime between now and early next month.

Higher-ups around the league have lent their support to Ferry, with most believing that he’ll again find work in a team’s front office, Wojnarowski writes. Ferry’s racially insensitive remarks while reading a scouting report about Luol Deng last year led him to take his leave of absence in September, shortly after controlling owner Bruce Levenson said he planned to sell the team amid the revelation of his own racially charged emails. Budenholzer took control of the front office around that time, though as Vivlamore told us, Atlanta’s player personnel decisions continued to be made in a collaborative manner, with Wilcox and others heavily involved.

Budenholzer won the league’s Coach of the Year award and finished third in Executive of the Year voting after the Hawks won 60 games this past season, though some votes that went to Budenholzer were meant as nods to Ferry, multiple executives told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Some executives, who vote on the award rather than media members, were displeased that the Hawks chose to nominate Budenholzer for the honor instead of Ferry, Hoops Rumors reported. Some of them spoke of abstaining from the vote, though all 30 voters ultimately cast their ballots. The Hawks made the vast majority of the moves that brought their roster together before Ferry went on leave.

Latest On Hawks Controversy

October 3rd, 2014 at 1:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:57pm: Vivlamore clarifies in a full story that Levenson, Peskowitz and Foreman intend to sell their 50.1% of the club, but the reason the percentage of the team up for sale is not clear is because it’s unknown whether the Gearons or any of the other owners who hold minority shares intend to sell. It would be premature to target the end of the year for completion of the sale, Vivlamore adds, noting that the city of Atlanta has no authority over the sale of the team and little to do with the mechanics of the ownership transfer, in spite of Reed’s meetings with Silver, Levenson and others. There is indeed plenty of interest from potential buyers, but most are merely making inquiries about the sale process at this point and aren’t yet talking terms, Vivlamore says.

11:39am: Commissioner Adam Silver assured Reed last week that the league is committed to keeping the Hawks in Atlanta, as Reed relayed today to media, including The Associated Press. Reed also expressed hope that the team will indeed have a new owner by year’s end.

10:54am: It’s unclear just what percentage of the team is up for sale, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A buyer could have the majority of the team with the purchase of Levenson’s, Peskowitz’s and Foreman’s full stakes, since that would constitute 50.1% of the club. However, a purchase of less than that could presumably put Michael Gearon Sr. and Michael Gearon Jr., who control a combined 42%, in charge, though that’s just my speculation.

9:00am: The Hawks are likely to be sold by year’s end, at a price point that falls somewhere in between the $550MM the Bucks went for in the spring and the bloated $2 billion that Steve Ballmer paid for the Clippers, a source tells Michael Wallace of ESPN.com. In the meantime, several agents who spoke to Wallace are concerned about the front office situation, suggesting that the lingering effects of the controversy surrounding the team and GM Danny Ferry‘s indefinite absence will affect the team’s ability to make roster moves.

Controlling owner Bruce Levenson, along with partners Ed Peskowitz and Todd Foreman, are selling their shares of the team, which make up a collective 50.1% stake in the franchise, after revelations of a racially charged email prompted Levenson to relinquish his ownership. The balance between the efforts of Levenson and his partners to find a buyer against the league’s involvement in the sale is unclear, but the city of Atlanta is part of the process. Mayor Kasim Reed said last month that he had spoken with six prospective buyers. Hawks executive Dominique Wilkins has expressed interest in buying the team, likely in the role of front man for an investment group, though it’s not certain whether his recent promotion is a signal that he’s close to taking any sort of ownership role.

Coach Mike Budenholzer has taken over the GM duties for Ferry, whose racially charged remarks about Luol Deng prompted his indefinite leave, but Budenholzer dismisses the notion that juggling two jobs would leave the Hawks in a tenuous position, as he expressed to Wallace. The ESPN scribe also indicates that assistant GM Wes Wilcox is playing a prominent role.

“I feel like there’s not a huge difference, to be honest with you,” Budenholzer said to Wallace. “Preparing for camp and little things that needed to be decided — who’s coming, who’s not, where we’re staying — so there’s a few of those conversations that impact my day. A few more people are probably coming into my office than prior. It gives me a comfort level when I think I’ve been involved in a [Spurs] program where the assistants and coaches have had a lot of input. R.C. [Buford] and [Gregg] Popovich, those guys were amazing about listening. They valued our opinions. And now, I value everybody’s opinion.”

The agents who expressed their concerns to Wallace about the structure of the front office emphasized the effect as it applied to trades involving players on high-dollar or long-term deals, but such moves rarely happen at this point of the year. Closing the sale by December would allow the new ownership to have their staff in place in advance of the February 19th trade deadline, when more significant moves more commonly occur.

Several Candidates Emerge For Nuggets GM Job

May 31st, 2013 at 6:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke's strong relationship with Masai Ujiri was the primary force behind the outgoing Denver GM's hesitation to accept Toronto's five-year, $15MM offer to jump to the Raptors front office, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Nuggets were willing to give Ujiri a deal worth $1.2MM a year, according to USA Today's Sam Amick. Still, none of it was enough to convince Ujiri to stay, and now the Nuggets are the team looking for a new GM. There's early talk about several who could eventually get the job, as we detail below:

Nuggets assistant GM Pete D'Alessandro and director of player personnel Mike Bratz are viable options, sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
Wojnarowski speculates that the Nuggets could promote D'Alessandro or go after Cavaliers assistant GM David Griffin. The Nuggets offered Griffin the job in 2010, but he turned them down, leading Denver to turn to Ujiri.
Other executives who figure to be top candidates include Gersson Rosas of the Rockets, Bobby Marks of the Nets, Tim Connelly of the Pelicans, Wes Wilcox of the Hawks and Scott Perry of the Magic, according to Wojnarowski.
The Nuggets could have some competition if they want to go with D'Alessandro, since Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace, the leading candidate to take the GM job in Sacramento, would like to hire him to work in the Kings front office, Amick reports (Twitter link).
Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk interviewed well with the Kings, Amick tweets, arguing that Schlenk could be a fit in Denver if it doesn't work out for him in Sacramento.
Assistant GMs Tommy Sheppard of the Wizards and Jeff Weltman of the Bucks have ties to the Nuggets and bear watching as the Nuggets' search takes place, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

Weltman, Morway Among Suns’ GM Candidates

April 24th, 2013 at 4:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Having parted ways with general manager Lance Blanks this week, the Suns are the first NBA team this offseason seeking a new GM. And according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, team president Lon Babby and the Suns have already lined up a number of potential candidates for the job.

Coro reports that Bucks assistant GM Jeff Weltman, former Pacers GM David Morway and former Lakers assistant GM Ronnie Lester are viewed as viable contenders for the Phoenix opening. Assistant GMs Ryan McDonough (Celtics), Wes Wilcox (Hawks) and Troy Weaver (Thunder) are potential candidates as well.

Weltman and Morway have a bit of history either with the Suns or the Phoenix area, as Weltman was a finalist when the team hired Blanks as GM in 2010. Morway, meanwhile, graduated from the University of Arizona.

According to Babby, the team is unlikely to make a promotion from within the organization, but previous GM experience isn't necessarily a qualification for the job. Still, Babby noted that he can't imagine "a first-rate talent evaluator would not have front-office experience." As Coro points out, if front-office experience is a requirement, that would eliminate a couple popular speculative candidates, in former Suns players Grant Hill and Charles Barkley.

According to Coro, members of the Suns organization have hoped to see Hill eventually return to the team in a management role. As for Barkley, he has suggested before that he could have interest in a GM role with the Suns, and reiterated today on XTRA Sports 910 in Phoenix that he hoped to receive a chance to run an NBA team at some point (Twitter link via Eric Sorenson). However, as Coro writes, the Suns' GM position would likely mean a pay cut and a workload increase for Barkley.

"I think the job requires rowing the boat every single day and it’s an all-consuming job and my impression is that he has a pretty full and good life," Babby said of Barkley. "Taking on a challenge like this might be something he really doesn’t want if he knew what it entails."