The Atlanta Hawks have fired general manager Wes Wilcox. He spent two seasons as the Hawks GM.
He Gone! That’s what the Hawks said to their general manager. Wednesday. Wes Wilcox has been relieved of his duties as the general manager in Atlanta. Wilcox was hired during the summer of 2015 after taking over for Danny Ferry.
Jeff Goodman of ESPN was the first to report the news regarding the Hawks.
Atlanta Hawks have parted ways with GM Wes Wilcox, sources told ESPN. Story coming. https://t.co/4g53brOXrV
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 3, 2017
The Hawks were recently eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Wizards. It appears the Hawks have sort of reached their potential as they were eliminated by the Cavaliers in the playoffs the two previous years. During the two years of Wilcox’s Hawks tenure, the team was fairly successful during the regular season. They posted a 48 and 43 win season during that stretch.
Wilcox made some interesting decisions this past offseason that may have sealed his fate. The choice to pursue Dwight Howard to a max contract over retaining Al Horford will likely haunt the franchise for the foreseeable future. A report recently came out how Dwight Howard is worth next to nothing on the trade market due to his albatross salary. Atlanta may now face the harsh reality that All-Star forward Paul Millsap might also soon walk in free agency.
Wilcox’s lone move that could pay off was selecting Taurean Prince in the 2016 NBA Draft. Prince, the former Baylor hoops star, looks like a potential difference-maker for the Hawks moving forward. Atlanta will likely be looking for a similar jump from DeAndre Bembry who was also selected in the first round of that 2016 Draft.
Next: The 30 best NBA players never to win a championship
The decision to fire Wilcox may also be indicative of his actions off the court. Wilcox made racially insensitive remarks back in January, for which he was disciplined. Considering the nasty stain former general manager Danny Ferry left on the franchise, the Hawks had to be proactive this time around. For those who don’t know, Ferry was previously fired because of racially insensitive comments made about Luol Deng.
Head coach Mike Budenholtzer could be a an option to take over as the team’s general manager. Budenholtzer is already the team’s president of basketball operations and could ease into that role. Wilcox, however, played a key role in personnel decisions for the Hawks after previously coming from the Cavaliers organization as a Director of Player Personnel.