Hawks hire former Stanford star Fields as new GM
Landry Fields, a former star with Stanford who spent five seasons playing in the NBA, has reportedly been named the Atlanta Hawks new general manager.
The 33-year-old Fields becomes one of the league's youngest general managers after he was promoted from assistant GM by Travis Schlenk, the ex-Warriors executive who was GM in addition to being Atlanta's president of operations.
The Athletic's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported Fields' promotion Monday.
Fields was the Hawks' assistant GM three years, since ending a four-year star in San Antonio's front office. He also served as the GM of San Antonio's G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs. Fields, whose promotion will take effect July 1, will still work under Schlenk.
Fields left Stanford in 2010, after he enjoyed a breakout season – he scored 22.0 points and averaged 8.8 rebounds per game – that led to him being selected in the second round by the New York Knicks. He averaged 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds in 255 NBA games with the Knicks and Raptors.
It figures to be a busy off-season for the Hawks, who are coming off a disappointing first-round exit in the Eastern Conference playoffs with pretty much the same roster they had while advancing to the conference finals in 2021. REPORT: NUGGETS DEAL GREEN TO OKC FOR FIRSTROUNDER >> Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth just got some more draft capital for this month's NBA draft — while also sending away a rotation player.
Booth executed his first trade as the franchise's top basketball decision-maker Monday, according to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, sending veteran forward JaMychal Green and a protected 2027 first-round pick to Oklahoma City for this year's 30th overall pick and two future second-round picks.
With the trade, the Nuggets now have the Nos. 21 and 30 selections in the first round of the June 23 draft. They will also receive second-round picks in 2023 and '24, according to the report.
Green has an $8.2 million player option left on the two-year deal he signed with Denver in the summer of 2021. A reserve forward for the Nuggets the past two years, he was likely to see a minutes crunch with the expected return of Michael Porter Jr. next season.
While the trade will slice some payroll from a Nuggets cap sheet that is destined to cross the luxury tax line, the guaranteed salaries due to the first-round picks would offset roughly half of those savings.
The two first-rounders give Booth the opportunity to pick up a pair of lowcost options under team control for four seasons — which could prove invaluable given the franchise's current cap situation. GRIZZLIES KEEP COACH JENKINS WITH MULTIYEAR DEAL >> The Memphis Grizzlies are making sure to keep coach Taylor Jenkins around after he led them to their highest playoff seed in franchise history.
The Grizzlies announced they signed Jenkins to a multiyear contract extension, with terms not disclosed. General manager Zach Kleiman said Jenkins has done an outstanding job leading the Grizzlies and called the extension well-deserved.
“The year-over-year progress under Taylor speaks for itself, but his growth-oriented, selfless and competitive approach has been a driving force in the establishment of a sustainable culture,” Kleiman said. “We have full confidence that Taylor will steer us to Memphis' first championship.”
Jenkins is 128-99 in three seasons and led the Grizzlies to the playoffs the last two seasons. He coached Memphis to a 56-26 record, second-best in the NBA and tied for the most wins in a season in franchise history.
Memphis earned a franchise-high No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and reached the semifinals for the first time since 2015, getting eliminated by Golden State.
Jenkins wound up finishing second in voting for the NBA Coach of the Year award.