ATLANTA — It has been a world-wind few days for Quin Snyder. Over the weekend, Snyder interviewed for and accepted the Atlanta Hawks head coaching job while he was in Costa Rica with his family.
On Sunday, he arrived back in the states and the Hawks officially introduced their new head coach at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex on Monday. Snyder will be on the bench Tuesday night at State Farm Arena when Atlanta hosts Washington.
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Snyder received a 5-year deal worth more than $40 million to take over a franchise that’s now on its third head coach in the last three years.
In addition to his experience as a head coach in the NBA, Snyder is known for player development. That will be essential with a young Hawks team and its star player Trae Young.
“What’s the one thing you want to learn in growing that relationship with Trae Young? What do you want to get that you can only see as a head coach? ” Channel 2 sports director Zach Klein asked Snyder in a one-on-one after the news conference.
“My challenge on the front end, not just with Trae but the entire group, I think to approach it that way also helps Trae. I’m going into this wanting that. It’s going to look different for every guy,” Snyder told Klein.
“I’m going to coach him. I think Trae wants to be coached. That process itself will continue to provide the substance and relationship.”
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Snyder is no stranger to Atlanta. Afterall, he was an assistant coach in Atlanta over a decade ago under Mike Budenholzer.
Snyder still had to be sold on joining the franchise now and not waiting for what was sure to be multiple offers from different teams this offseason.
Who is his most trusted alley in the Hawks front office? Assistant general manager Kyle Korver played for Snyder not once, but twice.
“If you know Quin, then you know his mindset is development first and development always. Always. And that’s what we want to be about,” Korver told Klein.
“We want to be the best development group in the NBA. How are we evolving as an organization? We want to keep on pushing this thing. And I’ve gotten to be around a lot of people in the NBA. He has always been one of the most creative basketball minds I’ve been around.”
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