Through this whole bizarre process of interviewing outside coaching candidates while he still has a coach under contract, Hawks general manager Danny Ferry has maintained there’s still a chance he might bring back Larry Drew.
Sorry. But the guy whose future is dangling from a string isn’t real confident of that happening. So he’s moving on.
When I asked Drew on Friday what he believed the odds were of him being kept by the Hawks after Ferry completes his round of interviews, Drew responded, “After talking with my adviser on this, he doesn’t like the odds. I don’t like the odds, either. That’s why I’ve decided to move on with other organizations.”
Drew will begin interviewing for other NBA coaching vacancies, beginning with Milwaukee this weekend. Good for him.
I understand that Ferry was up front with Drew about his plans, and that’s certainly better than interviewing other candidates behind his back. Ferry also is allowing Drew to talk to other teams (technically, the coach is under contract through June). But this is as strange a process as I’ve ever witnessed in pro sports, and Drew is wise to take advantage of this time to pursue his options.
“I have to look at the worst-case scenario,” he said. “Looking at it that way, with them taking the route they’re taking, I’m grateful that they’re allowing me to pursue other job openings. They didn’t have to do that. This allows me an opportunity to protect myself.”
Drew acknowledged that “these are unusual circumstances,” but he denied that there was any strain between him and Ferry as a result of this.
“Realistically, I wasn’t Danny’s hire from Day 1,” he said. “I was Rick Sund’s hire. Danny just kind of inherited me. I totally respect the position he took. He wants to do his due diligence and make sure I’m the right guy for the job. Really, this whole year, I was basically interviewing for the job. At end of day, if it happens to evolve back to me, I will be his hire.”
But as Drew said, the odds seem against it.
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