Neven Spahija hired as assistant coach for Atlanta Hawks

Update: The Hawks have announced the move through a press release. Here is a quote from Mike Budenholzer on the hire:

"Neven is one of the most successful coaches in Europe and we're thrilled to add him to our staff. As an organization, we have great respect for international basketball and we will benefit tremendously from his perspective and his wealth of experience."

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The Atlanta Hawks have made an extremely interesting hire with regard to their coaching staff on Monday afternoon. Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the team has added long-time Croatian coach Neven Spahija to the bench for the upcoming season.

Hawks hire Neven Spahija as assistant coach. #ATLHawks

— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) August 4, 2014

Spahija, who is 51 years old, was linked to the San Antonio Spurs during the season, but more importantly, he was won championships in multiple countries throughout Europe. He was last seen as the head coach of Cibona in 2013, and he has been rumored as a person of interest for multiple head coaching jobs since that point.

Obviously, this is a hire that comes slightly out of left field, but the Hawks needed to fill a spot after Quin Snyder left for the head coaching job in Utah, and it will be interesting to see how the "lineup" shakes out on the bench. Stay tuned for more information.

Eurobasket.com's David Pick reports that Spahija's deal with the Hawks is for two-years.

Terms of agreement between Hawks and Croatian assistant Neven Spahija are for two-years, according to source.

— David Pick (@IAmDPick) August 4, 2014