The Atlanta Hawks' commitment to head coach Quin Snyder has been one of the odder developments of the team's offseason. In an extremely volatile position, coaches who make playoff runs or have their teams in solid positioning are now being fired during the regular season. In a league where it is far easier to pivot away from coaches than players, this is perhaps somewhat understandable. Something the Hawks must consider after the New York Knicks shocked the league Tuesday afternoon, firing Tom Thibodeau.
What more could Knicks fans have reasonably expected from the head coach? It was clear the Pacers were the deeper and healthier team. New York made adjustments and fought every quarter, but were simply outmatched. The coach being fired is an opportunity for the Hawks to do what should have already been done and fire Quin Snyder. Thibodeau is the exact type of aggressive change the Hawks need to make.
Hawks Fans Should be Clamoring for the Front Office to Hire the Recently Fired Tom Thibodeau
If we're being completely truthful, Snyder has not brought the best out of Trae Young or anything close. Everything positive the Hawks have done is around the development of their young stars. There isn't an identity on either side of the ball. Atlanta has no idea who they are as a team, and firing Snyder to replace the veteran with Thibodeau changes all of this.
Love him or hate him, the former Knicks coach is going to get the best out of his players. There is no arguing that the coach hasn't gotten the absolute most out of both the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks in both of their respective tenures.
In both landing spots, the coach got the absolute best out of a star guard who put up the best season of their career. This is the hope you have when talking about the potential fit with bringing in the veteran coach to replace Snyder. Trae Young needs more support and a coach who can get the best out of the star.
Quin Snyder has had his chance with the Hawks, showing extreme patience at a volatile position. With the opportunity to add a proven playoff coach, now is the time to end all hesitation and make a needed change to help push the Hawks towards relevance in the 2025-26 season.