Former Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder is among the candidates to take over at the Atlanta Hawks following Nate McMillan's firing.

Snyder has been linked with the vacant job since McMillan was fired on Tuesday and Hawks general manager Landry Fields confirmed he was being considered among a pool of options.

The 56-year-old led the Jazz from 2014 to 2022, guiding the side to six straight playoffs appearances, before parting ways at the end of last season with an overall 372-264 regular-season record.

"Quin is a part of that pool," Fields told reporters on Wednesday. "That's something that we will consider, for sure."

Snyder has an association with the Hawks, having worked there as an assistant coach in the 2013-14 season before taking up the Jazz gig.

The Hawks are hoping for a playoffs push, sitting eighth in the west with a 29-30 record at the All-Star break.

Fields said he could make a hire this season, with Snyder available having been out of a job since exiting the Jazz.

"It's a factor in the sense that I feel comfortable mentioning his name," Fields said when asked about Snyder's availability.

"But there are other candidates I don't want to mention because they are a part of other teams. I want to make sure I'm respectful of other teams."

The Hawks have confirmed assistant coach Joe Prunty will serve as interim coach at practice this week before their season resumes on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Atlanta Hawks announced on Monday they had fired head coach Nate McMillan after reaching the All-Star break with a 29-30 record.

It was meant to be an exciting season in Atlanta as McMillan prepared for his second full campaign in charge, having taken over from Lloyd Pierce shortly after the All-Star break in the 2020-21 season.

That year, after taking charge, McMillan led the Hawks to a blistering 27-11 finish, earning the fifth seed in the East and going on to make the Eastern Conference Finals after winning series against both the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers.

They took a step back the following season, finishing eighth in the East with a first-round playoff exit, and they continued trending in the wrong direction this time around.

At least with last season's disappointing end, the team could point to the fact that they had the league's second-best offense in the regular season, but were just weighed down by the fifth-worst defense.

Now the Hawks sit 16th in offense and 21st in defense, lacking any kind of identity. With the trade deadline having already passed, this is the group Atlanta will have to win with down the home stretch, and ultimately the franchise decided McMillan had run out of ideas on how to right the ship.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, assistant coach Joe Prunty will take over as interim head coach while they conduct a "wide-ranging" search for a permanent solution.

Wojnarowski claims the Hawks are looking for a coach who has shown an ability to develop players, produce a top-10 offense and defense, and take accountability.

He states former Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder is viewed as a top candidate, while The Athletic's Shams Charania adds Milwaukee Bucks associate head coach Charles Lee – who spent four seasons as a Hawks assistant before following Mike Budenholzer to Milwaukee – is also a "serious candidate".

Other names mentioned as potential hires were Golden State Warriors assistant and former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson, Sacramento Kings assistant coach Jordi Fernandez, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Mitch Johnson and G-League head coach Miles Simon.

Trae Young made it clear he is not happy that details about friction between himself and Atlanta Hawks head coach Nate McMillan became public, but insisted things were "all good".

A report from The Athletic's Shams Charania detailed an incident where McMillan had not approved Young's decision to skip a team shootaround to focus on treatment for his minor shoulder injury.

It is said to have resulted in an ultimatum, with McMillan telling Young he would have to come off the bench if he wanted to play against the Denver Nuggets on Friday, with the 24-year-old two-time All-Star instead deciding to not show up altogether.

The Hawks officially attributed Young's absence to his shoulder injury, before the report brought new information to light, prompting McMillan to call the whole fiasco a "miscommunication".

The report also included a line citing anonymous sources saying "it's the latest situation that has caused many people within the Hawks to question Young's leadership approach" – pointing to similar friction between Young and former head coach Lloyd Pierce as a main factor behind his departure.

In his first media appearance since the news broke, Young said he was frustrated it all became public.

"It's hard for people who don't know the full situation to understand it," he said on Monday. "Like I said, it's a private matter made public, which was unfortunate. If it stayed private it probably wouldn't have been as big of a deal. 

"It's unfortunate. My job and my goal is to win a championship, and that's all I'm focused on.

"When you're an outside guy like [reporters] are, and you don't understand a private matter and private situation, you should probably stay on the outside.

"It's unfortunate that everybody has to understand and know a little bit of the details that went on inside. I mean, inside here we're all good. 

"If you've got any more questions about that you can talk to somebody else about it. That's all I've got to say about it."

The Hawks ended up with an impressive win against the Nuggets, with rookie A.J. Griffin taking advantage of his opportunity in the starting line-up to score a career-high 24 points.

Trae Young knew he just needed to stay aggressive in the second half of the Atlanta Hawks' 107-101 play-in win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, and said he expects a fun series against the Miami Heat.

It was a tale of two halves for the Hawks' All-NBA point guard, as he struggled with six points in the first, before exploding with 32 after half-time.

Bogdan Bogdanovic was crucial off the bench for Atlanta, hitting six-of-eight shots for 19 points and three steals in his 29 minutes, while Onyeka Okongwu invigorated his side after Clint Capela went down with an injury, finishing with a plus/minus of plus 21 while Capela was minus 21.

Speaking to post-game media, Young said he was always looking to score, despite how tough the Cavaliers were making it for him early.

"Early in the game, they were making some reads and making some switches, and I was trying to get my teammates involved," he said. 

"I missed a couple shots, but I needed to stay aggressive, and that's all I did in the second half. We just took care of business.

"The team we beat tonight definitely deserved a playoff spot, but this year it's so tough. They weren't able to make it. It's just a testament to our team that we kept fighting."

Young then touched on the upcoming series against the Heat, saying he is looking forward to the playoff atmosphere when they head to Miami on Sunday.

"I mean, [Miami have] been clicking on all cylinders, especially recently, [and] they've got a little bit more rest than we have, so we got to be ready to bring it," he said.

"We know the crowd is going to be crazy, and the environment is gonna be fun, so [we have] got to be ready to be locked in and take care of business."

Hawks coach Nate McMillan was inspired by his team's fight, and his point guard.

"This team is built for moments like this," he said.

"Trae has a great deal of confidence in his game, his ability and he continued to believe. I didn't see any panic in his play. 

"He came out in the second half [and] remained aggressive. Those shots started to fall, the same shots that he was taking in the first half, they started to fall in the second half."

Despite Trae Young shooting three-for-13 from the field in the first half of the Atlanta Hawks' win against the Charlotte Hornets, head coach Nate McMillan loved what he saw from his superstar point guard.

With the 132-103 blowout win, the Hawks earned a chance to play against the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Eastern Conference eighth seed on Friday.

Young's shot was not falling early, but his team still put up 60 points in the first half as De'Andre Hunter, Clint Capela and Danilo Gallinari shouldered more of an offensive load.

Speaking to post-game media, McMillan said he was proud of the way Young navigated his early struggles before going on to finish with 24 points and 11 assists.

"I thought [Young] did a really solid job of getting off the ball when [the Pelicans] put two on him, and he got his teammates involved," he said.

"I thought later in the game they went away from that, and he was able to get loose and get some looks at the basket.

"But a real solid job by Trae running the team, managing those guys on the offensive end of the floor, and really getting us organized and attacking."

McMillan admitted his assistant coaches were imploring him to pull the Hawks stars late in the fourth quarter, with a big lead and the win almost assured, and looked forward to the matchup against the Cavs.

"The coaches were yelling at me, screaming at me to get the [starters] out, so that we could get them a rest in," he said. "But it's time to play – it's game time – and we should be ready when we go to Cleveland.

"We don't know if [Jarrett Allen] will be back on Friday – but the size-factor – they do a good job of taking advantage of their size, and their ability to pound you in the paint with post-ups, rebounding and a lot of length.

"[Darius] Garland is an All-Star, playing great basketball for them, so they're a really good team. We'll have our work cut out for us on Friday."

Atlanta Hawks head coach Nate McMillan praised forward Kevin Huerter for his remarkable performance in the side's 103-96 Game 7 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

Huerter stepped up to score a team-high 27 points, while Trae Young erred with his shooting, as the Hawks booked a spot in the Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The 22-year-old had struggled for impact in the series but shone in the decider, shooting 10-from-18 from the field, including two three-pointers, with three assists and a steal.

"Kevin came out tonight and was very aggressive," McMillan said.

"We pretty much fed the hot hand. Our guards, Trae and Lou [Williams], did a good job of calling the game and keeping Kevin involved.

"He did a great job of making plays for us tonight. We needed that. He came through. He really struggled last game shooting the ball but we believe in him.

"We wanted those guys to stay aggressive. No hesitation. Tonight he came up big for us."

Young put up his worst display of the series in Game 7, only managing five-from-23 from the field, shooting at 21.7 per cent.

McMillan felt Young still contributed, ending with 10 assists but also hailed a side which does not rely on one player.

"Trusting in other guys and trusting in our game plan," he said. "Trae, we wanted him to be aggressive. His shot wasn’t falling but he got the ball to some other guys and they were able to make some plays.

"Kevin led us tonight. Galo [Daniro Gallinari] did a good job tonight. John Collins continues to be consistent. I thought Clint [Capela] did an outstanding job of guarding Embiid.

"It was a team effort. One guy didn’t shoot the ball well, but other guys we trusted. They came through for us."

The Hawks will take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the Conference finals starting on Wednesday.

"Giannis is a great player, two-time MVP," McMillan said. "We know what Milwaukee is all about, that's a really good team.

"Our focus has been on Philadelphia and right now we'll go enjoy this and we'll start preparing for Milwaukee tomorrow."