Hawks Make Major Front Office Shakeup Ahead of NBA Draft

Apr 18, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) controls the ball against Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Apr 18, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) controls the ball against Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Hawks are continuing to make front office changes after an epic failure in the 2024-25 season. It is hard to imagine a season going much worse with the Hawks out of position for the playoffs or a draft pick of note. Atlanta fired its GM and hired Onsi Saleh as the team's new decision maker.

A frustrated fan base can only hope that this change signals a level of urgency to build a contender in a wide-open Eastern Conference. With the injury to Jayson Tatum completely changing the landscape of the conference, there is a path for Atlanta to take a significant step forward.

Atlanta is continuing to add to its new front office, bringing in former New Orleans Pelicans GM Bryson Graham as the new Senior VP of Operations and 76ers' Peter Dinwiddie as Senior VP of Strategy and Analytics. While neither franchise is being lauded for recent decisions, it at least signals a needed change for the Hawks. At this point, any shake-up has to at least push the team in a direction, either rebuilding a contender around Trae or working to completely reset the roster.

Hawks Offseason Front Office Shakeup Continues With Recent Hirings

Atlanta's problem has been a lack of direction, neither fully committing to building what Trae Young needs to contend nor going the opposite direction. This has left the Hawks excelling in mediocrity after an impressive 2021 run. The Hawks let far too many key roster pieces go, and continue to find the team stuck in the play in or exiting the first round of the playoffs.

Fans can only hope that these new hirings mean that change is coming in the 2025 offseason. Even if this means a rebuild and resetting the franchise after already paying both Jalen Johnson and Trae Young. Regardless, a direction needs to be chosen for the franchise to have any hope of starting to make sensible moves.

The best path forward is to shed salaries and bring in one additional star alongside Trae and the team's young core. While this is far easier said than done, it is the obvious choice for a team with an exciting young roster and an established point guard who has proven where he can take you when given enough help.

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