According to Sports Illustrated and a report by Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Hawks’ General Manager Danny Ferry is not expected to return to the team.
Since September, Ferry has been on an indefinite leave of absence after the audio of his comments on Luol Deng surfaced. Ferry made the comment that Deng was an overall good guy, but he had “African in him.” This kind of comment was definitely uncalled for, and after the Donald Sterling debacle, it was not going to be swept under the rug.
Deng ended up going to the Miami Heat and Danny Ferry has been left to wait and see if he gets to keep his job. Jeff Schultz explained three scenarios that Ferry could go through:
• Ferry resigns: This is the favorite. It could happen any day. The Hawks likely would agree to pay off the balance of Ferry’s contract and it would allow him to make an exit statement along the lines of, “I’m proud of the work I did here but I feel it’s the best for all parties to move on.”
• Ferry is fired: It doesn’t serve anybody to have this thing end ugly, least of all Ferry, who wants to get another job (and will). But he has been resistant to leaving, loves living in Atlanta and it may come to this.
• Ferry is kept: Think “PowerBall” odds.
The Hawks went on to have a great season this year. They compiled 60 wins and made the Eastern Conference Finals as well. After coach Mike Budenholzer said Ferry was the person most responsible for bringing this roster together, it made things more interesting looking at his job security.
