Claws out: How a Hawks regime fell
Posted: Tue Oct 6, 2015 5:02 pm
This is a very long read. But it is a must read and worth the time. Some details we knew or suspected, and some new details.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13457071/nba-how-atlanta-hawks-regime-fell-apart
A few highlights:
Ferry was in high demand in the spring of 2012.
He had run the Cleveland Cavaliers in LeBron James' early years, from 2005-10. After a stint in the San Antonio Spurs' front office, offers from the Philadelphia 76ers and the Hawks put him on the delightful end of a bidding war. But he didn't need the money. He'd earned more than $50 million in his career as a player and executive and had invested well. He was more interested in power and stability.
The Hawks ownership concerned Ferry -- a history of squabbling, a recent near-sale of the team, the attempts to limit expenses. But Levenson, who had long admired the fellow Washingtonian, was determined to reel Ferry in.
Levenson addressed Ferry's concerns with one of the most wide-ranging, demanding contracts ever scored by an NBA general manager: A six-year contract at more than $2 million per season, guarantees the ownership would invest tens of millions into both a D-League team and a new practice facility and, the big one, Ferry would report to only one man in the organization -- Levenson.
Before the contract was signed, Levenson brought all of the owners together for a meeting at his apartment in Atlanta. During the discussion, Ferry explained what he intended to do and how he planned to operate the team. The Hawks presented a unique opportunity to replicate the Spurs model, an incubator to create a sustainable winner.
Gearon was at the meeting and aware of the parameters of Ferry's deal before it was signed. He would later make it clear he did not agree with the weight and scope of the contract.
When it came to Ferry actually functioning in his new role, Gearon wasn't ready for it at all.
hortly after he took over in June 2012, Ferry traded away Joe Johnson, the team's most high-profile player. Then he dealt Marvin Williams, a Hawk since he was drafted by the franchise second overall in 2005. Each move returned few significant contributors but added future draft picks and financial flexibility.
The overhaul didn't stop there. In addition to getting a commitment from the Hawks to build a training facility, Ferry persuaded ownership to set up a bona fide analytics operation, something the team had never invested in before. He later encouraged Levenson to consider hiring a true CEO, and Levenson eventually enlisted former Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin.
All of which was more than a little unsettling to Gearon, who cherished the team's past, no matter how mixed the results had been.
That was only the beginning.
Ferry also wanted to modernize the Hawks' medical program and staff. More than scouting or analytics, player health was a sphere where smart organizations were gaining a competitive advantage over old-fashioned ones. Ferry had gained a first-hand understanding of this during his time with the Spurs, arguably the NBA's earliest adopters of innovation on the training side.
To Ferry, the Hawks were still in the stone age. After his first season, he planned to fire head athletic trainer Wally Blase and, to Gearon's dismay, Radulovic.
Levenson and Ferry weren't fans of Wilkins' work as an analyst on the Hawks' local television broadcasts, either. Ferry wanted to provide Wilkins opportunities to improve, such as introducing him to a media consultant to work on his techniques and having the Hawks' assistant coaches meet with him before games to offer context on game plans that could be explained to fans. But Gearon believed Ferry's unsaid and underlying position, whether he was talking about his ambassadorial work for the organization or his talent as a color commentator, was that Wilkins wasn't up to the task.
Ferry was in favor of signing Deng, an unrestricted free agent, but Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was skeptical. Several weeks before, Ferry and Budenholzer had traveled to Durham, North Carolina, and spent a day with Mike Krzyzewski, who coached both Deng and Ferry at Duke, to brief Budenholzer on Deng's game and personality.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13457071/nba-how-atlanta-hawks-regime-fell-apart
A few highlights:
Ferry was in high demand in the spring of 2012.
He had run the Cleveland Cavaliers in LeBron James' early years, from 2005-10. After a stint in the San Antonio Spurs' front office, offers from the Philadelphia 76ers and the Hawks put him on the delightful end of a bidding war. But he didn't need the money. He'd earned more than $50 million in his career as a player and executive and had invested well. He was more interested in power and stability.
The Hawks ownership concerned Ferry -- a history of squabbling, a recent near-sale of the team, the attempts to limit expenses. But Levenson, who had long admired the fellow Washingtonian, was determined to reel Ferry in.
Levenson addressed Ferry's concerns with one of the most wide-ranging, demanding contracts ever scored by an NBA general manager: A six-year contract at more than $2 million per season, guarantees the ownership would invest tens of millions into both a D-League team and a new practice facility and, the big one, Ferry would report to only one man in the organization -- Levenson.
Before the contract was signed, Levenson brought all of the owners together for a meeting at his apartment in Atlanta. During the discussion, Ferry explained what he intended to do and how he planned to operate the team. The Hawks presented a unique opportunity to replicate the Spurs model, an incubator to create a sustainable winner.
Gearon was at the meeting and aware of the parameters of Ferry's deal before it was signed. He would later make it clear he did not agree with the weight and scope of the contract.
When it came to Ferry actually functioning in his new role, Gearon wasn't ready for it at all.
hortly after he took over in June 2012, Ferry traded away Joe Johnson, the team's most high-profile player. Then he dealt Marvin Williams, a Hawk since he was drafted by the franchise second overall in 2005. Each move returned few significant contributors but added future draft picks and financial flexibility.
The overhaul didn't stop there. In addition to getting a commitment from the Hawks to build a training facility, Ferry persuaded ownership to set up a bona fide analytics operation, something the team had never invested in before. He later encouraged Levenson to consider hiring a true CEO, and Levenson eventually enlisted former Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin.
All of which was more than a little unsettling to Gearon, who cherished the team's past, no matter how mixed the results had been.
That was only the beginning.
Ferry also wanted to modernize the Hawks' medical program and staff. More than scouting or analytics, player health was a sphere where smart organizations were gaining a competitive advantage over old-fashioned ones. Ferry had gained a first-hand understanding of this during his time with the Spurs, arguably the NBA's earliest adopters of innovation on the training side.
To Ferry, the Hawks were still in the stone age. After his first season, he planned to fire head athletic trainer Wally Blase and, to Gearon's dismay, Radulovic.
Levenson and Ferry weren't fans of Wilkins' work as an analyst on the Hawks' local television broadcasts, either. Ferry wanted to provide Wilkins opportunities to improve, such as introducing him to a media consultant to work on his techniques and having the Hawks' assistant coaches meet with him before games to offer context on game plans that could be explained to fans. But Gearon believed Ferry's unsaid and underlying position, whether he was talking about his ambassadorial work for the organization or his talent as a color commentator, was that Wilkins wasn't up to the task.
Ferry was in favor of signing Deng, an unrestricted free agent, but Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was skeptical. Several weeks before, Ferry and Budenholzer had traveled to Durham, North Carolina, and spent a day with Mike Krzyzewski, who coached both Deng and Ferry at Duke, to brief Budenholzer on Deng's game and personality.