The Hawks season ended on Wednesday night, as they were trounced by the Bulls in the play-in tournament. It was the third consecutive season that Atlanta found themselves in the play-in tournament. However, this was the first time they failed to make it out. To say the season was a failure would be an understatement. Major changes are coming, and the first domino has fallen, as the Hawks are hiring Golden State’s Onsi Saleh to be an Assistant General Manager.
In such a pivotal offseason, the Hawks need to add as much experience as possible in the front office. Landry Fields is a first time GM, and his right hand man is Kyle Korver, who was playing for the Hawks not too long ago.
It’s far too early to make sweeping judgements about their tenures in Atlanta’s front office, but it’s difficult to find many positives. They were gift-wrapped a team with a star point guard that had recently made the Eastern Conference Finals, and they’ve only regressed since former general manager Travis Schlenk left the organization.
Saleh is another young executive that is rising through the ranks quickly. He’s spent the last few years with the Warriors organization under Mike Dunleavy, most recently serving as the VP of Basketball Strategy and Team Counsel. Prior to his time with Golden State, he was in the Spurs front office for five years.
The hiring of Saleh does not mean anything for Kyle Korver. He will also remain with the Hawks as an Assistant General Manager.
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