The legend himself, Rick Sund, is on the move to the Atlanta Hawks. Excellent hire for the Hawks. Anyone on this site knows how much I am a fan of Slick Rick. Most people wouldn't consider a great move but considering how Rick put together a very balanced and competitive team on the cheap here in Seattle I would imagine that he is going to make considerable upgrades to the Atlanta roster. I wouldn't expect Mike Woodson to be the Hawks coach for long. Rick is definitely not afraid to make tough decisions and despite the fact that I know that he would never admit it, Sam Presti has probably learned a ton having Rick serve as an advisor for the Sonics last season -- even if it was just hearing from Rick Cho, Assistant GM for the Sonics, about strategies that Rick has implored in the past. On a scale from 1-10 I would categories Rick's tenure in Seattle as a 7. His biggest fault was drafting Mo' Sene in the first round and signing Calvin Booth to a ridiculous contract. His best moves were obviously the Ray Allen/Gary Payton trades, the Wilcox/Vlad trade, the Fortson/Booth trade, his keen ability to sign undrafted free agents (Reggie Evans, Damien Wilkins, and Andre Brown), and his ability to negotiate with pending free agents. Injuries to Robert Swift (and an absolutely horrific rehab program) probably hurt Rick's stock more than anything else but he is easily my favorite GM to run the Sonics. How would you categories Sund as the Sonics GM?
SO you don't think Sund will keep Woodson around? Mike gearon(hawks Ceo) was interviewed yesterday, and he was kinda brushing off questions about ownership still getting involved in every move.
If you are a general manager who is trying to put your stamp on the franchise it doesn't make sense to bring back a coach whose cumulative record is 106-222 (.323) with one postseason appearance. Do I think that Mike Woodson did a poor job with the Hawks? No. Do I think that there are people who could have done a better job? Most certainly. And there are very good candidates that I'm sure would jump at the opportunity to become a good head coach. One would be former Minnesota head coach and long time Sonics assistant Dwane Casey or current San Antonio assistant Don Newman. In moving forward it is important to have a coach that can demand respect. Mike Woodson seems to be a class act in all aspects but considering some of the actions of Josh Smith, Zaza Pachulia, and others in their locker room I'm not sure if he can command the respect needed to go forward. Just ask Flip Saunders. There is one thing for a coach to bring a team to respectability. There is another to take a team to a level that makes them a contender. I'm not sure that the Hawks are capable of getting to that level but I am pretty confident that they can't make that leap with Mike Woodson. Sund is not afraid to make tough choices. He fired Bob Weiss after his first 30 games as head coach of the Sonics. He negotiated very cap friendly contracts with free agents who felt that they were worth much more than they ended up signing for. He put together a very well balanced roster that was capable of making the post season each season when he was a general manager of the Sonics. His drafts were not his strong suits but considering that he never had a pick higher than #10 I don't think that people can put that much weight on the fact that he was never able to draft an All-Star. Everyone of his first round picks (with the exception of Mo' Sene and its still early on him (kid is only 21)) have received or are in line for their second NBA contract...which is must better than most GM's can say.
Great pick-up for the Hawks. Sund is the smart, stable and proven GM they need to build on a solid platform that is set.
