HoopsHype.com Rumors

Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry has been fined $15,000 by the NBA for inappropriate interaction with game officials following Saturday night's game against the Boston Celtics. ESPN.com

Atlanta Hawks, Danny Ferry 

Chris Vivlamore: According to a league source, Ferry handed officials a DVD following the game. Could it contain play Rondo was just suspended for? #ATLHawks Twitter @ajchawks

Atlanta Hawks, Danny Ferry 

General manager Danny Ferry has no interest in trading forward Josh Smith, sources say. Yahoo! Sports

Atlanta Hawks, Trade, Danny Ferry, Josh Smith 

Danny Ferry's dilemma, according to one opposing GM: the Atlanta Hawks match or exceed last year's .600 winning percentage despite dealing away Joe Johnson and Larry Drew wins NBA Coach of the Year. Success, the GM's theory goes, will make it all the harder for Ferry to tear down and rebuild the team as he see fits. Sulia

Atlanta Hawks, Joe Johnson, Coaching, Danny Ferry, Larry Drew 

How has your relationship with the front office changed since Danny Ferry took over? Josh Smith: I've always had a good relationship with the management. It's nothing against Rick Sund, but Danny Ferry worked for a lot of successful organizations in Cleveland and San Antonio, so I think he brought that winning attitude to this team and it has trickled down to the coaches and the players. HoopsHype

Atlanta Hawks, Danny Ferry, Josh Smith, Rick Sund 

Shams Charania: As he heard of Mike Brown firing, #Hawks' Danny Ferry - Brown's GM in CLE - was in meeting, and a person in room told me Ferry was shocked. Twitter @ShamsCharania

Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Lakers, Coaching, Danny Ferry, Mike Brown 

Peter Vecsey: Should Mike Brown not make it through the season it's safe to assume Danny Ferry will hire him 2 coach Hawks (Drew lame duck) next season. Twitter @PeterVecsey1

Atlanta Hawks, Coaching, Danny Ferry, Mike Brown, Larry Drew 

The Hawks planned on staying the course, with Joe Johnson headlining their team, if Rick Sund had decided to commit to a new long-term deal to stay on as general manager. Despite his team’s inability to win more than one round in recent seasons, Sund thought his core group of players, led by Johnson and Al Horford and with several others hitting the prime of their careers, could have gone deep into the postseason in 2012-13. But when Sund declined to stay long- term, the Hawks brought in former Cavs GM Danny Ferry to replace him as their chief decision-maker, with Sund now serving as Ferry’s adviser. Ferry was willing to make changes and that’s the only reason Johnson became expendable. New York Daily News

Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Joe Johnson, Danny Ferry, Rick Sund 

The owners’ best-received move might have been hiring Ferry after courting him for three months. “We had very clear and open conversations,” Ferry said. “I asked very direct questions of (Levenson). He gave very clear and honest answers. He asked direct questions of me. I gave very clear and honest answers. This was a situation I (was) comfortable in, very comfortable that we were going to be given a great opportunity to succeed. “I wanted to feel comfortable we would be working together going forward. …. I wanted to feel I was working for someone with strong values who I would enjoy working with.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Danny Ferry 

New general manager Danny Ferry agreed with the decision to pick up Drew’s option and the two will wait until after the season to discuss the coach’s future. “My focus is to go out and coach as well as I can,” Drew told the AJC. “I don’t want to concern myself. I had a conversation with my representative back in the early part of the summer and let it be known that I think the last couple of years speak for themselves as far as my ability as a head coach in this league. Things that I can’t control I’ve made my mind up long before that I can’t concern myself with. I enjoy doing what I’m doing. I enjoy the players. I enjoy the camaraderie. I enjoy the challenges. With the situation being what it is, I’ve already made my mind up. My focus is to go out and coach this team to the best of my ability and we’ll see where things fall.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Coaching, Danny Ferry, Larry Drew 

Chris Vivlamore: #Hawks' Josh Smith on whether GM Danny Ferry's assessment of his contract status was correct: "We are on the same page." Twitter @ajchawks

Atlanta Hawks, Danny Ferry, Josh Smith 

Ujiri has emerged as a rising star among league front-office executives and had been the 76ers' primary target along with new Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry, sources said. Yahoo! Sports

Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, Danny Ferry, Masai Ujiri 

Hawks GM Danny Ferry says Spurs free agent James Anderson has been invited to join the team’s veterans camp. Anderson apparently will accept, according to a tweet by former teammate Danny Green. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Free Agency, Danny Ferry, James Anderson 

Tom Haberstroh: Interesting nugget: Danny Ferry says Orlando refused to trade Dwight Howard within the division, eliminating the Hawks. Twitter

Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Trade, Danny Ferry, Dwight Howard 

Was Howard a major focus for you? Danny Ferry: He was a focus of the whole league. It wasn’t our sole focus. You can’t invest everything in one guy like that. Grantland

Atlanta Hawks, Danny Ferry, Dwight Howard 

Danny Ferry: With Joe gone, the dynamic of our team is naturally going to change. There’s going to be more touches and more possessions that other people are gonna be a part of. I would imagine that both Devin [Harris] and Jeff — and Louis [Williams] — will absorb a lot of those. And all of them will become very important to our group. Grantland

Atlanta Hawks, Joe Johnson, Devin Harris, Danny Ferry, Louis Williams, Jeff Teague 

He approached the Orlando Magic about a trade for Howard in early July but was turned down. He never had the opportunity to share his vision with Howard and try to convince him that the dysfunction that Howard (an Atlanta native) was familiar with was a thing of the past. It never even got as far as being in position to convince Howard to sign an extension. “We had discussions with Orlando about Dwight Howard,” Ferry said. “They were apprehensive to trade him within the division.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Trade, Danny Ferry, Dwight Howard 

"In the past in Philadelphia, my role was to light it up and score as many points as I possibly could," (Lou) Williams said. "Talking to coach (Larry) Drew and talking to (general manager Danny Ferry), I think my role will be similar, if not increased. Obviously, you have Devin and you have Jeff, who are very talented guards, and then you add myself in that mode. I've always been the type of guy that I'm a team player, I'm a team guy. I don't plan on coming in here competing with these guys negatively. I think we can all compete and help us all win games." FOXSportsSouth.com

Atlanta Hawks, Danny Ferry, Louis Williams 

Ferry will tell you that he “didn’t come in looking to” trade Johnson, but the opportunity presented itself (and he pounced). But Smith is a different story. Ferry likes him –a lot. “He’s a really good player,” Ferry said. “I love his ability to pass the ball. I love his ability to make game-changing plays defensively. I love his competitiveness. If I was out there playing, I would want Josh on my team.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Danny Ferry, Josh Smith 

But does Smith want to be here? He wasn’t available for comment Tuesday, but Ferry said he has met with him twice. “He’s excited for next season,” he said. “We haven’t really gone in that direction with him [on roster plans]. But we’ve talked about how we’re going to play. We’ve talked about other payers. His ideas, my ideas. I’m just trying to establish a relationship.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Danny Ferry, Josh Smith