ATLANTA (AP) — Mike Budenholzer resigned as the Atlanta Hawks’ president of basketball operations and will remain as coach, the team announced on Friday.
The Hawks also removed Wes Wilcox as general manager as part of the reorganization of their front office.
The team announced that Wilcox resigned and will become a special adviser to ownership and will begin a search for a new general manager.
The Hawks said Budenholzer will remain involved in personnel decisions.
The changes come after the Hawks dipped to 43-39 this season and lost to the Washington Wizards in the opening round of the playoffs.
Budenholzer was promoted to president of basketball operations after a 60-win season in 2014-15, when the Hawks earned the top seed in the East and reached the conference final before getting swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The management team of Budenholzer and Wilcox engineered offseason moves which produced questionable results.
The team signed Kent Bazemore to a four-year, $70 million deal and signed center Dwight Howard to a three-year, $70.5 million deal.
Howard did not play in the fourth quarter of the Hawks’ 115-99 Game 6 loss to Washington. It was the second time in six playoff games the center did not play in the fourth quarter.
Two straight seasons of dips in win totals could lead to a more dramatic decline if the team is unable to re-sign free-agent forward Paul Millsap.
Millsap, a four-time All-Star who averaged 18.1 points and 7.7 rebounds, was the top producer on a roster that received disappointing returns from Howard and Bazemore.
