Written by Thomas Moore

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The Atlanta Hawks have hired former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry to be the team's president of basketball operations according to a report in The Atlanta Journal Constitution The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Ferry agreed to a "multi-year" deal according to the newspaper, and will succeed current general manager Rick Sund, whose contract expires on July 1. Sund, the Hawks' general manager since 2008, has been working on Thursday’s NBA Draft but Ferry presumably will take over those responsibilities. Sund has expressed an interest in remaining with the Hawks as an adviser, the report said.

“My family and I are thrilled to join the Hawks organization and Atlanta community,” Ferry said in a statement. “There were many components that made this the right fit for me but clearly my confidence in the ownership group and their dedication to building a championship-caliber franchise was most important. They are committed to building with the right people and investing in critical areas for development; both essential elements if we want to create sustained success."

Ferry was most recently vice president of basketball operations for San Antonio and before that he was Cavs general manager from 2005 to 200. During that time he signed Larry Hughes, Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall as free agents, and traded for Antawn Jamison, Shaquille O'Neil  and Mo Williams, among other moves, as he worked to build a roster abound LeBron James.

No word on whether the Hawks saw that as a positive or a negative when making the decision to hire Ferry.