Newz Forum: BASKETBALL: Hawks to name Woodson new head coach

Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - The Atlanta Hawks announced Wednesday that they are expected to name Mike Woodson as their new head coach. The deal is a four-year guaranteed contract, but financial terms were not released.

Atlanta will formally introduce Woodson during a Thursday 3:00 p.m. (et) press conference.

Woodson -- an 11-year veteran of the NBA -- served on as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons, who won their third NBA championship last month.

The 47-year-old spent the last three seasons with the Pistons and the Philadelphia 76ers under the guidance of Larry Brown. He has also been an assistant coach in Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Woodson will replace Terry Stotts, who was fired as the Hawks' head coach on May 6 after a 52-85 record in 1 1/2 seasons. Woodson will become the 10th coach since the franchise moved to Atlanta in 1968.

Atlanta is in the process of rebuilding after the club has missed the playoffs in each of the last five seasons. The club has just five players under contract and four incoming draft picks, including first-round selection Josh Childress from Stanford.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Hawks general manager Billy Knight also interviewed Indiana Pacers associate head coach Mike Brown, Dallas Mavericks assistant Del Harris, former Phoenix Suns head coach John MacLeod, Seattle SuperSonics associate head coach Dwane Casey, former Cleveland and Atlanta coach Mike Fratello and TNT studio analyst Kenny Smith several weeks ago.

The newspaper said Woodson and Knight, who were teammates more than 20 years ago with the Kansas City Kings, share similar basketball philosophies.