Report: Atlanta Hawks expected to show interest in Troy Weaver for GM opening

Another potential candidate has emerged for the Atlanta Hawks in their search for a new general manager.

As you know by now, the Atlanta Hawks have decided to shake things up in their front office. Mike Budenholzer will no longer be the president of basketball operations, instead he will focus just on his head coaching duties.

Wes Wilcox will relinquish his general manager duties and become a special advisor to ownership. The team has started a search for a new general manager. Towards the end of last week the names of a few possible candidates emerged.

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Marc Stein of ESPN reported that league sources expect David Griffin and Joe Dumars to be candidates for the position.

Are those names realistic? That’s debatable. Griffin is currently employed by the Cleveland Cavaliers and Joe Dumars’ tenure with the Detroit Pistons ended quite badly.

It’s safe to say that Hawks fans aren’t chomping at the bit to see either of those guys become Atlanta’s new general manager.

Another, perhaps more realistic, name has been revealed today. Marc Stein is reporting that Troy Weaver is expected to be a candidate to lead Atlanta’s new-look front office. Hawks fans should be excited about this revelation. Weaver is a rising star.

Weaver is currently the vice president and assistant general manager for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Weaver works under Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti, and has been a candidate for general manager openings in the past.

He began his NBA executive career as a head scout with the Utah Jazz in 2004, before being promoted to director of player personnel. He was hired by the Thunder in 2010 to be their assistant general manager.

Here’s how Tom Ziller of SB Nation described Weaver in a 2014 article about executives around the NBA that would eventually become general managers.

"Weaver has the distinction, perhaps, of being the best GM prospect who hasn’t gotten his chance to run a team as of yet. He’s interviewed for top jobs, and the Thunder have even gone so far as to decline permission for at least one team to interview him. Weaver is the guy who recruited Carmelo Anthony to Syracuse and purportedly led the internal charge to draft Russell Westbrook. Those are two big aces to have in your pocket.Weaver has been in NBA front offices for more than a decade, and working for such a successful franchise that has already developed an NBA GM (Orlando’s Rob Hennigan) means that his shot is surely right around the corner. Weaver’s more of a scouting and relationships type, as his boss Sam Presti and others in the front office (first Hennigan and now the No. 3 guy on this list) focus on cap management. So a team hiring Weaver will want to ensure he can handle that all-important end or hire someone able to do so."

This would be a great hire for Atlanta. Weaver is an up and coming executive that has experience building a championship contender. You can’t ask for much more than that if you’re a Hawks fan. He deserves a chance to prove he can be a successful general manager in the NBA and his track record is extremely impressive.

Next: Hawks Exec Search: Don't Count On Landing Griffin

We’ll keep you posted as more details come forward about Atlanta’s search for their next general manager.