Atlanta Hawks general manager Landry Fields has been fired, relieved of his duties some two-plus years after taking over the reins from former team President Travis Schlenk, now, with the Washington Wizards.
The team put out a statement announcing plans to find a new lead basketball executive.
“We have announced that we will begin the search for a President of Basketball Operations and have hired Sportsology Group, a leading provider of strategic advisory and operational support in the sports industry, to direct the process,” the Hawks said in a post on X on April 21.
“We also announced that Landry Fields has been relieved of his duties as general manager, and Onsi Saleh has been promoted to general manager of the Atlanta Hawks.”
The Hawks improved their record in each of Fields’ three campaigns as GM.
However, not only did they fail to make the playoffs, but they are surrendering a lottery pick to the San Antonio Spurs, which has a chance to be No. 1 overall. That is not Fields’ fault, per se, but he will apparently pay the price for the Hawks’ failures.
Landry Fields had rapid rise & fall with Hawks
Fields assumed control in-season in 2022, after the Hawks got off to a 16-15 start amid friction within the organization over several moves, including the trade for Dejounte Murray during the preceding offseason.
Former head coach Nate McMillan, who led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, was also fired under Fields.
The Hawks have gone 100-114 and handed out several hefty contracts under Fields.
They left themselves with little wiggle room up until this coming offseason. He was entrusted to make the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, selecting Zaccharie Risacher, who ended up as a finalist for Rookie of the Year.
Fields also acquired Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player candidate Dyson Daniels this offseason.
The Hawks won four more games during the regular season in 2024-2025 than the year prior.
This was despite a slew of injuries and lineup changes, including a pair of significant trade deadline deals to move on from Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter. The Hawks have missed the postseason two years running.
They failed to make it this year after their fourth consecutive trip to the Play-In Tournament. The commentary coming out of their final playing tournament loss to the Miami Heat was positive.
The Hawks still decided to make a massive change in the early going of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.