Five days after firing Nate McMillan, the Atlanta Hawks hired free agent Quin Snyder as their head coach on Sunday night, February 26.

The former coach of the Utah Jazz, Snyder is expected to take over immediately.

The Hawks did not disclose terms of the deal, but ESPN reported it was a five-year agreement. The team reportedly entered discussions with Snyder as early as Thursday, with The Athletic reporting Friday that Atlanta was nearing a deal to pay Snyder around $8 million per year.

Snyder, 56, spent the 2013-2014 season as an assistant coach with the Hawks before leading the Jazz for the following eight seasons.

“I am thrilled to go back to Atlanta as the next head coach of the Hawks,” Snyder said in a news release. “(General manager Landry Fields) has a tremendous reputation as an incredibly bright, high character, high-quality individual and it was quickly evident that we share a passion and commitment to building a winning team with a strong foundation and high standards.” 

The Hawks fired McMillan on Tuesday following a 29-30 start to the season. Joe Prunty has served as the interim head coach since then. ESPN reported that Snyder could take the sideline for the Hawks as soon as Tuesday’s game against the Washington Wizards.

Snyder, 56, finished 372-264 in eight seasons leading the Jazz from 2014-22. Snyder walked away from the Jazz in June with the second-most wins in franchise history (Jerry Sloan 1,127). He led the Jazz to the playoffs in his final six seasons, finishing with a 21-30 postseason mark.

Snyder also was the head coach at Missouri from 1999-2006, going 126-91 in seven seasons, leading the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament four times.

“From our first conversation, it was clear that Quin had all the characteristics we were looking for in our next head coach,” Fields said in a news release. 

“He has both an incredible basketball and emotional IQ, and we share the same core values and basketball philosophies of having honest communication and collaboration with players, tremendous attention to detail and placing a great emphasis on player development. We are excited to welcome him, his wife Amy and their family back to Atlanta.”

McMillan, 58, had been the Hawks’ coach since taking over after Lloyd Pierce’s firing during the 2020-2021 season. He led fifth-seeded Atlanta to the Eastern Conference finals that season and was given a four-year contract.

McMillan posted a 99-80 record as Atlanta’s head coach over parts of three seasons. He owns a 760-668 mark as coach of the Seattle SuperSonics (2000-2005), Portland Trail Blazers (2005-2012), Indiana Pacers (2016-2020) and Hawks. – Rappler.com