Quin Snyder Update!

As Duke fans probably know, former Blue Devil Quin Snyder is now coaching the Atlanta Hawks, and he’s building a pretty solid team.

He left Utah in 2022 and took over the Hawks in the following season and while you might think that his departure left some bruised feelings, at least with this site it didn’t.

When we saw the headline on Will Eudy’s story – “Hawks are about to make a Quin Snyder realization Jazz fans know too well” – we thought it was going to be a rip.

Not at all.

Eudy says that Snyder’s “… been the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks for over two years at this point, and yet now is going to be the time when Hawks fans start to see just how great he can truly be as the leader of a team.”

Seems about right.

The Hawks have seemed to have had some ambivalence about Trae Young, but he’s there for now. They also have Kristaps Porzingis, assuming he stays healthy, former Blue Devils Luke Kennard and Jalen Johnson, along with Dyson Daniels and some other useful pieces.

And here’s the best part currently: while Porzingis is 30 and Kennard, unbelievably, is 29, no one else is over 26. Next year, Atlanta gets the more favorable of the Milwaukee Bucks’ and New Orleans Pelicans’ first-round picks and also a complicated second first round pick. We can’t simplify this very well, so here’s how it works, courtesy of AI:

Atlanta gets its own first-round pick, subject to San Antonio’s right to swap for Atlanta’s pick; Atlanta then has the right to swap the resulting pick (the less favorable of Atlanta/San Antonio) for the less favorable of Cleveland’s first-round pick and the more favorable of Utah’s first-round pick (protected 1-8; if not conveyed, Utah’s obligation is extinguished) and Minnesota’s first-round pick (via Utah’s right to swap for Minnesota, Utah’s right to swap for Cleveland, and Atlanta’s acquired swap rights). 

That’s really hard to follow, but basically, the Hawks should get some good talent next year.

They also have this deal in the second round: The less favorable of Boston’s second-round pick and the more favorable of Indiana’s and Miami’s second-round picks (subject to additional potential swaps involving Memphis and San Antonio). 

And if they ultimately decide to move Young, as has often been rumored, they could come out of that with another pile of assets.

Anyway you look at it, Snyder and the Hawks are sitting pretty. As long as they make good decisions, the Hawks are going to soar.