Hawks plan to promote Mike Budenholzer, Wes Wilcox; part ways with Danny Ferry.

[Diesel]

There's an interesting blog on the matter.

[Diesel]

Do you think other GM's do not tear apart players as they evaluate? Do you seriously think its all damn rainbows and puppy dogs? I am pretty sure every GM will point out character flaws and physical questions to every player they may look at signing. Its their job

 

I know that GMs tear apart players.  However, how many of those tear apart sessions become public?  FerryLover understand... it's not about whether or not Ferry was a good GM or even if he used best practices.  It's all about perception and reputation.  

As a child, I always knew that Wrestling was "fake".  However, one day, I was allowed backstage in the OMNI and saw Dusty Rhodes and Stan "the Man Hanson" laughing and drinking beers together after having busted each others heads wide open in a texas Bull Rope match.  Now...from that experience, I know that seeing is really believing.   We have seen Ferry at his worst doing what GMs do.  We knew that it happens, but hearing it and having FAs to hear the same will villify Ferry much quicker than any rumor.

For those of you that think he's going to walk into his next GM gig, I have serious doubts that he will be a GM in the next 4 years.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Diesel

[JETSET]

Single handedly? When did Ferry start coaching games?

 

You could argue Bud has been even more successful without Ferry around and with more control (Won COY this year without Ferry).

You are really stretching if you are trying to insinuate that Ferry's absence was the reason why the team took off this year and not better health + better depth.

[atlhawks1]

I know that GMs tear apart players.  However, how many of those tear apart sessions become public?  FerryLover understand... it's not about whether or not Ferry was a good GM or even if he used best practices.  It's all about perception and reputation.  

As a child, I always knew that Wrestling was "fake".  However, one day, I was allowed backstage in the OMNI and saw Dusty Rhodes and Stan "the Man Hanson" laughing and drinking beers together after having busted each others heads wide open in a texas Bull Rope match.  Now...from that experience, I know that seeing is really believing.   We have seen Ferry at his worst doing what GMs do.  We knew that it happens, but hearing it and having FAs to hear the same will villify Ferry much quicker than any rumor.

For those of you that think he's going to walk into his next GM gig, I have serious doubts that he will be a GM in the next 4 years.

 

Which is why i said IF Ferry comes back into the NBA, it will be with the Spurs. Like ive already said, the Deng situation was just a MEANS for Gearon to get rid of a General Manager that EVERYBODY in the Hawks front office hated. I know you saw the ESPN reports that said the WHOLE NBA fraternity cant stand Ferry. The Deng situation was just icing on the cake.......

Edited June 22, 2015 by atlhawks1

[HawkItus]

lol @ the whole Ferry by himself lifted this team to the n.1 see and ECF.  Players and coaches didn't do jack.  The better attendance etc. wasn't any of Stevie K's doing lol.   It is funny how people are quick to jump on Thabo for a "decision" that turned out bad for the team and then defend Ferry for a decision that turned out bad for the franchise.  Hmmm.

[Diesel]

You are really stretching if you are trying to insinuate that Ferry's absence was the reason why the team took off this year and not better health + better depth.

 

I'm in agreement with you that Ferry Put together a very good cast of players and they were healthy for most of the year.

 

However,

 

Bud made the team a family.

Bud inspired guys like Sap and DMC to improve their Game.

Bud mentored Teague into being the next Tony Parker.

Bud allowed bench guys to get lots of developmental minutes on the floor.

Bud put together an offensive gameplan that makes our biggest weakness into a strength.

 

Ferry's best move was hiring Bud.

[AHF]

Exactly G-Kidd...I mean, honestly. I don't even know what having a "little African in him" means?

 

I mean some of the best players over the last few decades were actual Africans...and some were Europeans...and a few from Canada, Australia, Dominican Republic, etc.

 

It came across as assigning a negative aspect to the African player in general - stereotyping - (selfish, lazy, un-coachable?...I dunno)

 

Obviously it wasn't a compliment.  Why not just say something like "we don't feel he will play within our system"?

 

,,,a comment like that is a "tell" (as they say in poker)...and the "tell" in this case means he had to go.

 

You are missing a huge piece of the puzzle.

 

A tell (as you are using here as a synonym for "pretext") would mean that he was trumping up a reason not to sign Deng.  

 

The reality, however, is that he strongly advocated signing Deng and offered him as much as he got from Miami.  You don't need a tell if you are going to advocate signing Deng to a contract that will make him your second highest paid player.

 

I agree that reading that comment was a dumb, dumb decision that warranted discipline.  It should never have been passed onto his bosses.  It should never have been read.  The point he was making, though, it is illustrated pretty clearly by the larger context of what was said during that portion of the meeting.  He had reports that Deng had been the good soldier to the media but had undermined management behind the scenes in Chicago.  He was reading a report that called Deng "two-faced" in one of the worst ways possible.  What Ferry was doing was a bit of CYA.  He was going to recommend making Deng our second highest paid player but wanted ownership to know about these supposed issues in Chicago in case they surfaced in Atlanta and he was accused of making a bad decision without their input.  Now when he offered the contract to Deng with their support, he did so with them being aware of this potential downside.

Edited June 22, 2015 by AHF

[JETSET]

I'm in agreement with you that Ferry Put together a very good cast of players and they were healthy for most of the year.

 

However,

 

Bud made the team a family.

Bud inspired guys like Sap and DMC to improve their Game.

Bud mentored Teague into being the next Tony Parker.

Bud allowed bench guys to get lots of developmental minutes on the floor.

Bud put together an offensive gameplan that makes our biggest weakness into a strength.

 

Ferry's best move was hiring Bud.

Exactly. and Bud wouldn't be here without Ferry.  You aren't being truthful if you say different.

[JETSET]

lol @ the whole Ferry by himself lifted this team to the n.1 see and ECF.  Players and coaches didn't do jack.  The better attendance etc. wasn't any of Stevie K's doing lol.   It is funny how people are quick to jump on Thabo for a "decision" that turned out bad for the team and then defend Ferry for a decision that turned out bad for the franchise.  Hmmm.

Once again going to extremes and stretching my words instead of taking them for what they are.

 

The point is, Bud and the current group of players wouldn't be here without Ferry.  Of course, every one put in a ton of work to make it all come together and they all deserve credit.  Ferry just made it to where they had a chance to do so. 

 

Koonin has done a great job at marketing but winning will always be 100x the marketer that Koonin is on his best day.  We don't see record attendance and viewership this season if we have the usual mediocre coach and lineup. 

[JETSET]

I said, that were gracious in keeping as much of the old regime as they did...  Maybe some of you are new to the NBA but usually, when a new owner comes in, they clean house.   These owners saw our winning system and they were gracious to let most of it continue. 

Since this happens so often, I would like to see you list 3 examples of teams who made the conference finals in one season and then had new owners come in and fire the majority of the staff in the next season. 

[Guest]

Spin it any which way allya want, give credit, take credit, one thing is fact: 

 

Danny laid the foundation when he joined this Hawks organization, there is no pretty structure without that solid foundation. Now it's up to Bud and Wes to build on the foundation that Ferry constructed.

[Guest]

Q. Are you surprised at the Hawks’ success this season? How much satisfaction do you take in knowing you assembled this team?

A. I’m impressed and proud. We went through a lot of changes in the past couple years. Moving people in and out and changing culture in a substantive way is hard. But change was necessary. Now, the selfless style of play, the team-first mentality and the defense is exactly what we had in mind when we assembled our coaching staff and roster. I miss the group, particularly our players. These are people I like and respect a lot. My management philosophy has always been to recruit really good people, to hire people smarter than me and then get out of the way. Well, I guess I’m doing that right now.

[Diesel]

Since this happens so often, I would like to see you list 3 examples of teams who made the conference finals in one season and then had new owners come in and fire the majority of the staff in the next season. 

 

You're joking right?  Those type of teams don't sell.

However, there's one... Memphis.  Soon as they were purchased in 2012, they put in John Hollinger as VPBO and Fired Lionel Hollins from his coaching position.  And this was after a 56 win season and losing in the Conference finals to the Spurs.

[Diesel]

 

Q. Are you surprised at the Hawks’ success this season? How much satisfaction do you take in knowing you assembled this team?

A. I’m impressed and proud. We went through a lot of changes in the past couple years. Moving people in and out and changing culture in a substantive way is hard. But change was necessary. Now, the selfless style of play, the team-first mentality and the defense is exactly what we had in mind when we assembled our coaching staff and roster. I miss the group, particularly our players. These are people I like and respect a lot. My management philosophy has always been to recruit really good people, to hire people smarter than me and then get out of the way. Well, I guess I’m doing that right now.

 

I like his management Philosophy...

I like his pickup of Bud....

But he wasn't fired for being a bad GM.  He was fired because his situations were messy.

[Guest]

I like his management Philosophy...

I like his pickup of Bud....

But he wasn't fired for being a bad GM.  He was fired because his situations were messy.

True, but let some here tell it - they think he was and refuse to give him credit. Just saying.

[russ7000]

yeah I would have kept Ferry and had Bud share the decision making with him... we are going to see REAL FAST if we just made a major mistake and kept Ferry..... starting with draft day..... 

[MaceCase]

So if Ferry did nothing wrong, why didn't he fight harder for his job? Remember folks, this was a self imposed exile, not a suspension by the team or the league.

If you're so innocent, why not fight? I'll tell you why. Because he lacks humility, a trait that A-Holes do not posses.

The humility to come out in public, say he was wrong, and get the entire franchise over all of this as quickly as possible.

Instead of facing the music and defending himself, or letting everyone see that he was truly sorry, he goes into hiding. A-Holes do not like to be publicly humiliated or admit in front of the world that they were wrong.

And despite the law firm not finding anything on record inappropriate, he may have had conversations with others within the organization that could be seen as inappropriate. And those people may not have told on Ferry, to save their own butts.

Most of all, Ferry thinks he's the smartest in the room. So if a reporter would've asked him ..."What made you read that report about Deng to your owners, and why didn't you just say that Deng is viewed as being deceptive" .. it would've forced the "smart guy" to admit on air that he did something incredibly unprofessional and stupid.

He didn't fight for his job, and no one in that organization truly fought to bring him back. There has to be a reason for that.

People are usually judged by their job performance AND by the content of their character. If flaws come about in any if these areas, the people who employ you may lose confidence in your overall abilities. And if these people simply don't like you and your personna, that may spell major trouble.

Or, as I'm sure you are ever so shocked to learn today........the reason was that the organization of even bigger assholes that he worked for refused to release key evidence that helped exonerate him of any wrong doing.....thus limiting his ability to "defend" himself lest of course people like you (who still insinuate that despite evidence stating the contrary, there just HAS TO BE some nebulous evidence out there that overrules all of that) question the authenticity of his claims.

 

I'm sure, since you have such insight into both Ferry's psyche and his perception within the organization that you could very much just call this "cowardice".......or a guy being pushed into a corner being told to fight with his hands tied behind his back against a contingent where the grand prize if he won......is he would get the lovely right to continue to work with said contingent of gaping assholes that just attempted to railroad him.

 

Take heed, there's a reason that they are giving him even more money to go away and there's a reason why he's become ever so much more chatty now that certain facts have been brought to light.

[HawkItus]

 

 

 

Danny Ferry steps down as Hawks GM

By Ramona Shelburne

ESPN.com

 

Danny Ferry, who officially stepped down as general manager of the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, told ESPN he has mixed emotions about leaving the team, but is relieved that he and the franchise can now move forward.

 

Ferry's departure ends a 10-month indefinite leave of absence that followed the release of an audio recording of a conference call with ownership in which Ferry was heard repeating culturally insensitive comments from a scouting report about Miami Heat forward Luol Deng.

 

 

"I have mixed emotions, but it's good to have the situation resolved and to be moving forward," Ferry told ESPN in his first public comments on the situation since last September. "We've been together for three years. I'll miss being part of it. But I'm also happy for the people who are getting opportunities to move forward. So it's mixed emotions for a lot of reasons."

 

ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz reported on June 18 that Ferry and the team had agreed to a buyout that will pay Ferry more than the remaining balance on the final three years of contract, according to league sources.

 

Coach Mike Budenholzer will assume the role of head of basketball operations under the title of team president, while assistant general manager Wes Wilcox will be elevated to general manager, sources said.

 

Ferry told ESPN that he considered the possibility of coming back to his job at various points throughout the season, but "didn't want to be a distraction" for the Hawks, who won 60 games and placed four players on the All-Star team this season, or for Deng.

 

ESPN reported this past weekend that the law firm hired by the team -- Alston & Bird LLP -- conducted 19 witness interviews and reviewed the contents of more than 24,000 emails and found no evidence that Ferry's comments on Deng were motivated by bias.

 

On the call, which occurred June 6, 2014, Ferry characterized Deng as a player who "has a little African in him," and added, "He's like a guy who would have a nice store out front and sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back." Ferry has maintained he was reading from a scouting report prepared by a third party.

 

In documents obtained by ESPN over the weekend, Bernard Taylor, the lead investigator for Alston & Bird, supported Ferry's assertion.

 

"We reported the results of our work to the Hawks," Taylor wrote in a letter to Ferry. "In summary, the facts indicated that you repeated comments that were not your own about Mr. Deng from a scouting report during the call, and there was no evidence to indicate that during the call you acted in a manner motivated by negative bias toward Mr. Deng."

 

An overview of the law firm's findings was reported to Atlanta's ownership Sept. 10, though the firm didn't produce a written report. Ferry remained on an indefinite leave of absence following Taylor's findings. The team's release and the letter from Taylor were formally written as a condition of the settlement.

 

Ferry had requested a statement to that effect in September.

 

When asked why it wasn't released sooner, Ferry said: "In September, Bernard Taylor gave his findings to the team. So you're going to have to ask them that.

 

"I do know that a guiding principle for everyone in this was the sale. Getting the team up for sale took a lot longer than everyone anticipated. I think initially everyone was hoping to have the sale done quickly, but because it was a struggle to figure out what was actually for sale and getting the team actually up for sale, the team didn't actually go to sale really until January or February. That's not what I was expecting. But it's the way that it unraveled and it certainly pushed everything back for everybody."

 

Entrepreneur Antony Ressler agreed to purchase the team in April for what sources said is $850 million, including debt obligations. The deal is expected to be finalized Wednesday, when the NBA board of governors meets.

 

In his interview with ESPN on Monday, Ferry declined to name who wrote the scouting report he read from during the conference call.

 

"I know you have to ask, but just like a reporter has sources, we have scouting reports that are done under the idea that they're confidential," Ferry said. "I certainly made a mistake, but it's not something that characterizes who I am."

 

Ferry said he's spoken to and apologized to Deng for what was said and for involving him in the situation. In an interview with ESPN's Michael Wallace in February, Deng said he had accepted the apology and challenged Ferry to bring some good from the controversy.

 

"A lot of people experience racism at different times on different terms," Deng said. "It's helped me from a young age to have a tough skin. I've been through a lot where I just look at it and say, 'It's another chapter. We've come out of much worse than this.'"

 

Ferry said he took a trip to Senegal to participate in an NBA-led coaches clinic, and has spoken with prominent African-born NBA players such as Dikembe Mutumbo and Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri to better understand the situation.

 

He also met with civil rights leaders in Atlanta. One of those men was former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, who subsequently advocated for Ferry to return to the Hawks.

 

"It really is unfortunate," Young told ESPN, when asked about the resolution to the situation. "What I think of the whole situation is that a basketball disagreement ended up being cast as racial.

 

"I think it was totally unfair to characterize his statements as racial. Winning in sports is 90 percent from the neck up. If general managers cannot analyze egos and personalities and talk about the subtleties of a player, they can't do their job. The fact that Danny recommended Luol Deng [as a free agent the Hawks should sign] was in and of itself an indication that there wasn't a racial bias.

 

"Danny's father brought Manute Bol [who, like Deng, is Sudanese] to the NBA. When Danny was 16, he had to drive him around and be his chauffeur."

 

In its release announcing Ferry's departure, the team characterized Ferry's remarks as "a brief portion of a lengthy conference call without team ownership in which Ferry repeated and paraphrased language form a third-party scouting report" and added that later on the call, Ferry "recommended him both personally and professionally and ultimately tried to sign him to the team." The team also said that "the investigation revealed no other negative information on Ferry."

 

Ferry has continued to live with his family in Atlanta throughout the year.

 

"Early on I had a lot of anxiety, not just for me but for my family," Ferry told ESPN. I have five kids, a wife, a dad and a mom. I felt for all of them as well. But I think it's for other people to judge, but hopefully they look at my whole life and my career throughout 30 years in the NBA and the people who have spoken up for me. Hopefully that influences opinions about me and not as much the one mistake."

 

Days before the recording of Ferry became public, an email written by former controlling majority owner Bruce Levenson in 2012 surfaced, in which Levenson expressed concern that large numbers of African-American spectators at Hawks games were driving away more affluent, middle-aged white suburban fans. The email was found during the investigation of Ferry's remarks.

 

"My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a significant season ticket base," Levenson wrote.

 

In response to the turmoil, Levenson and his Washington-based partners put the Hawks up for sale. Levenson has not spoken publicly since the incident.

 

After the initial chaos and controversy, the Hawks went on to have their most successful season ever in Atlanta, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

 

"This season has proved two things," Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said. "First, Danny Ferry is a tremendous GM. Danny was the principal architect of the Hawks' success in Atlanta. From the hiring of Coach Bud to reinventing the roster, Danny's vision has put us in the tremendous place we are today. Danny acted with integrity and professionalism as he guided the organization through important changes over the last few years. 

 

"Second, Danny Ferry is not a racist. Danny showed great leadership in stepping aside in the fall so the season could proceed with as few distractions as possible. He has always put the team first despite the great personal difficulties he endured. Now that the team has identified new ownership, the resolution of Danny's contract with existing ownership is appropriate. We wish Danny and his family only the best moving forward."

 

[MaceCase]

Spin it any which way allya want, give credit, take credit, one thing is fact: 

 

Danny laid the foundation when he joined this Hawks organization, there is no pretty structure without that solid foundation. Now it's up to Bud and Wes to build on the foundation that Ferry constructed.

Doesn't matter Miss Jay, "credit" is only awarded where whatever narrative allows it to be rewarded.  If people fall out of love with Bud and he draws up a game winning play that gets a guy open for a basket the narrative goes "oh so we gonna give Bud credit for making the shot now?"  If people don't like the player that made the shot the narrative will go "yea but he only made the shot because this other player drew the double and this other player spoon fed him the pass".

 

Credit is never looked at as a river that flows from a single point, it's just a collection of geysers.

[Dejay]

As the Hawks turn; all we need is the organist and some Proctor and Gamble commercials.

I'm going to miss Ferry because he of what he did to jettison this team of Marvin, JJ, and Osh but as some have mentioned earlier, new ownership generally doesn't want any baggage from the previous regime lingering around. You don't buy a house and use the same dirty dishes the previous owner left in the sink; especially if you can afford a set of your own. I only wished they could do the same for Gearon but that's for another post...

That being said, this is not a time to play around. This is a top contender for the Cavs' Eastern throne. No one in town is going to want to hear about how tight the cap is or luxury tax issues; we're too close to fall back to 43-39 seasons again. Starting with the draft this week, the right moves need to be made this summer. We'll soon see how good/bad this move is shortly...

Edited June 22, 2015 by Dejay