The Atlanta Hawks reached a buyout agreement with Danny Ferry on his contract that was approved by the franchise’s board of managers on Friday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
An official announcement is expected in the next few days. Ferry spent the past seaon on indefinite leave from his job as general manager.
Ferry’s buyout will be paid by the Hawks’ old ownership group. He had two years left on a six-year, $18 million contract signed in 2012, but he is to receive more than the amount he’s owed, the Journal-Constitution reported.
Billionaire businessman Tony Ressler and other investors will take over the Hawks and Philips Arena on Wednesday when the $850 million sale is finalized.
The 48-year-old Ferry has been exiled since last summer, when a racially insensitive scouting report on free agent Luol Deng put the fellow Duke alum in the crosshairs. He has not commented on his status since September.
Any moves involving existing contracts won’t be made until June 24, when new ownership is ratified by the NBA Board of Governors at a meeting in New York.
Mike Budenholzer is expected to become president and head coach, a similar joint role to that of Stan Van Gundy in Detroit and Flip Saunders with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Yahoo reported Wes Wilcox will replace Ferry as general manager.
Budenholzer was the NBA coach of the year in 2014-15 and coached the Eastern Conference All-Star team. The Hawks were 60-22 and the top seed in the conference before losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals.
Ferry could quickly catch on with another franchise. The San Antonio Spurs, where Ferry played and worked in the front office under Gregg Popovich while Budenholzer was an assistant, could be interested in adding a familiar and trusted basketball mind.