Atlanta, GA (Best E Casino) - The Atlanta Hawks named Rick Sund as the club's new general manager Wednesday.

Sund takes over for Billy Knight, who will resign his post effective July 1 after a six-year stint as Hawks GM.

"Rick has an enormous amount of experience, and an outstanding reputation around the league," said team co-owner Michael Gearon. "During this process as we spoke with basketball people we respect around the NBA, everyone had glowing things to say about Rick and his work."

Sund comes to Atlanta after spending the past six seasons as general manager with the Seattle SuperSonics. The 56-year-old had been with the Seattle organization in a variety of roles since 1994. Prior to that, Sund was involved with the Dallas Mavericks since their inception, finishing his 15- year tenure with the team as vice president of basketball operations.

"I'm very excited and impressed with what the Hawks have currently developed," Sund admitted. "I look forward to continuing that process. They captivated the attention of fans locally and nationally with their play during the playoffs and I, too, was impressed with the effort they displayed throughout that series."

Atlanta finished the 2007-08 schedule with a 37-45 record, good enough for third place in the Southeast Division and the eighth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. The club showed heart in taking the top-seeded Boston Celtics to a seventh game before being eliminated in their conference quarterfinal series.

Sund inherits a Hawks team which has not recorded a winning season since the abbreviated 1999 campaign. That year, Atlanta finished second in the Central Division with a 31-19 mark but fell to the Knicks in the conference semifinal round.

The former two-sport Northwestern standout began his professional career with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1974.