Quinn Synder ‘agrees a five-year deal to be head coach of the Atlanta Hawks’ and may make his debut as soon as Tuesday against the Washington Wizards
The Atlanta Hawks have agreed a five-year contact with Quinn Synder to be the team’s new head coach and could make his debut as early as Tuesday against the Washington Wizards, according to ESPN.
The 56-year-old Synder was pursued by the Hawks immediately after the firing of former head coach Nate McMillan five days ago.
It will not be his first time on the sidelines for the Hawks after having served as an assistant with the team during Mike Budenholzer’s staff.
Synder most recently coached the Utah Jazz, who he led to the NBA playoffs three times, before resigning this past summer as it appeared the team was set to begin a rebuild.
In recent days Synder was said to have had conversations with general manager Landry Fields, assistant GM Kyle Korver and owner Tony Ressler on a number of philosophical, team building and staff budgetary issues.
Sources also stated that he is expected to enter the organization with a significant voice in player personnel matters.
One of his primary goals to go on top of trying to steer the Hawks to a guaranteed playoff position down the stretch, will be to fix the chemistry issues that have plagued the team all season long.
Atlanta is currently 31-30 and sit eight place in the NBA Eastern Conference, which would qualify them for the play-in tournament.
Along with his ability to make the playoffs player development, accountability and getting the team moving toward the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rankings all proved to be essential parts of his tenure in Utah.
Coincidentally enough, Synder is set to take over the team in a very similar manner to his predecessor McMillan.
McMillian had initially took over an underperforming Hawks team down the stretch after Lloyd Pierce was fired in 2021. McMillian was able to get that Hawks team to show new life and advance to the Easter Conference finals before their season was ended.
It remains to be seen if Synder will have similar success once he takes over, but until then Joe Prunty will remain slated as interim head coach. Atlanta won their first two games under Prunty.
Prunty recorded a 21-16 record as an interim coach with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2018 after Jason Kidd. Prunty and the rest of Atlanta’s assistants are expected to remain in place through the remainder of the season.
