Tatum open to NBL suitors if overlooked by Illawarra - with a catch

The likelihood of the Hawks passing on his services remain slim, with the front office having opened formal discussions with the 44-year-old's management about installing him as the foundation club's long-term head coach.

He remains in the box seat for the role given the the mid-season resurgence he's extracted from the Hawks roster, with the club giving little consideration other rookie candidates.

Tatum said the Hawks role is "one hundred per cent" his preferred option, but he'll be driven by his desire to continue his career as a head coach.

"In the NBL, for sure," Tatum said when asked if he'd only consider head coaching offers.

"In the NBA, clearly you've got to keep working your way up, but in the NBL I think I can really put my understanding, my knowledge to work [as head coach]. I think people can understand what I can bring to the table now.

"If it's not for the Hawks, if it's one of the other 10 teams in the league, I would like to retain a head coaching job in the NBL. The Hawks is not the only destination, but it's my top priority for sure.

"My representation and the team have started talking and engaged in it, but as for continuing talks, I don't want to be distracted with something extra on my plate. I've told them to just let me keep proving myself and what I can do for this program and organisation and see how I can keep developing and learning as a coach."

Despite the on-court upswing, the Hawks chances of featuring in the post-season took a hit with back-to-back home losses last week, though it's understood Tatum's prospects for the role do not hinge solely on a finals appearance.

Also in his favour is a close relationship with club owner Jared Novelly having been a classmate of Novelly's brother at their alma mater, Christian Brothers College, St. Louis.

Novelly was also on the school board that rubber-stamped Tatum's return to the CBC program as head coach in 2013, ushering in a decade of success for the school.

Whatever the outcome, Tatum said he plans to have the matter sorted before he returns the US once the Hawks NBL campaign is complete.

"If everything works out, I'd like to make sure I'm locked in before I go back home," Tatum said.

"Once the season is over, or close to the end of it, and we've got more of an understanding of what I can and can't do, I'll know what's going on before I get back. It's definitely going to be done before I go back home [to the US]."

Tatum's more immediate focus is arresting a three-game losing slide he's willing to dub "the toughest stretch of my interim coaching career."

It sees the Hawks heading to Perth staring down the barrel of four straight defeats, while Tatum could be without trump card Gary Clark, who hasn't practiced since Saturday's loss to Adelaide in which he managed just two points at 1-5 shooting as he nursed a knee injury.

"He's projected to play on Thursday, but if I feel he's not able to produce I don't want to add any more injuries to him," Tatum said.

"It's probably a game-time decision with him. It doesn't have to be the 36-point Gary, but if he can just be somebody who has a physical presence with his body feeling good enough to play, I'm going play him.

"We're practicing as if he's not going to be with us because we got to make sure we have that preparation down. We've got some other big ones that we need him for so we don't want to put all our marbles in this basket for this game.

"That's why the bench is very strong for us. Even though his position's huge for us, we want him for the long run."