The Atlanta Hawks announced a number of additions and promotions within the basketball operations department on Friday, including the hiring of Michael Blackstone as assistant general manager.
President of basketball operations and head coach Mike Budenholzer also named John Treloar as director of player personnel, Malik Rose as manager of basketball operations, Dotun Akinwale as manager of scouting, Matt Elijah as manager of basketball administration, Daniel Starkman as coordinator of basketball operations and David Painter as director of basketball facilities.
Jeff Peterson was promoted to director of scouting and Naya-Joi Martin to manager of player programs, while Rick Sund (senior advisor, basketball operations) and Mike McNeive (director of basketball operations) continue in their roles.
“Much like building our team on the floor, we seek to add and retain high-character individuals who work well as a group at every level of our basketball operations department,” Budenholzer said. “We believe in a collaborative approach in everything we do, and are excited to have these talented and hard-working individuals with us.”
Blackstone comes to the Hawks from the Shapiro Negotiations Institute in Baltimore, Md., where he was executive vice president/sports practice director. He was formerly the executive director of basketball operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2010-13.
Treloar, a veteran of more than 30 years in pro and college basketball, spent the last five seasons with the Phoenix Suns, most recently as director of player personnel. He was previously head coach of the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, in the Continental Basketball Association and an assistant coach at LSU and Indiana University.
Rose, a 13-year NBA veteran, appeared in 813 regular-season games with the Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder. He also appeared in 82 playoff games, winning two NBA championships with the Spurs in 1999 and 2003. Since retiring as a player, Rose has worked in broadcasting with the Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Austin Toros of the NBA D-League, NBA TV and NBA Radio.
Sund, with over 40 years of NBA experience, is entering his fourth season as senior advisor and his eighth with the Hawks. He was the team’s executive vice president/general manager from 2008-12.
McNeive is entering his 13th season with the Hawks and 10th in his current position. He was Atlanta’s director of pro personnel from 2004-06 after originally joining the Hawks as an assistant coach in 2003-04.