Hawks hand Onsi Saleh a promotion and long-term contract extension

There were murmurs out of Philadelphia that Bob Myers might be targeting Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh to replace Daryl Morey — an understandable connection, given the two worked together back in Golden State.

For that to happen, however, Atlanta would have had to grant the 76ers permission to speak with Saleh. After he finished second in Executive of the Year voting, that was never going to happen.

Not only is Saleh not going anywhere — he’s now committed to staying in Atlanta for the long haul. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Hawks are handing him a long-term contract extension and promoting him to President of Basketball Operations.

The Atlanta Hawks are signing general manager Onsi Saleh to a long-term contract extension and promoting him to President of Basketball Operations, sources tell ESPN. Saleh – runner up for 2026 league executive of the year – took over as Hawks GM last offseason after joining… pic.twitter.com/9DrBUDxTnF

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 27, 2026

The decision to remove Landry Fields as general manager last offseason and replace him internally with Saleh turned a lot of heads. Clearly, he made quite the impression in a short amount of time after previously working with the Spurs and Warriors.

In his first season, Saleh pulled off a number of remarkable moves — beginning with a draft night trade with the Pelicans that netted the Hawks an unprotected first-round pick in this year’s draft. He also signed the league’s Most Improved Player, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, in free agency. And perhaps most importantly, he navigated a messy situation with Trae Young about as well as anyone could have.

It looked like the Hawks were hitting the reset button. Instead, they finished the season as one of the hottest teams in the NBA, catapulting themselves out of the play-in tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

Now entering the offseason, the Hawks have incredible financial flexibility, no bad contracts on the books, two first-round selections in this year’s draft, and five total tradable first-round picks. Saleh can go in virtually any direction he wants this summer, and the organization has rightfully decided to put their full faith in him.

For the first time since Tony Ressler took over as the Hawks owner, it feels like there is finally a healthy chain of communication between ownership, the front office, and head coach Quin Snyder — who is also expected to sign a contract extension this offseason.

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Photo: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire