When the Atlanta Hawks promoted and extended Onsi Saleh to a “long-term contract extension” as the team’s new President of Basketball Operations, they secured the hottest front office executive in the league and brightened their future.
When Saleh was hired as the Hawks’ lead decision maker, the general public knew little about him. Just one season later, however, Saleh earned a second-place finish in the league’s Executive of the Year award and garnered interest from a fellow Eastern Conference playoff team: the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rival front offices have made their mind clear: they have faith in Saleh, whether they applaud his efforts running the Hawks or want to hire him.
Saleh is already building a stellar resume
After just one season at the helm, Onsi Saleh has already turned the Hawks franchise around. He has executed an almost unbelievable 10 trades, headlined by acquiring the 2026 Most Improved Player Nickeil Alexander-Walker, flipping Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard for positive value, trading the 13th overall pick (Derik Queen) in 2025 for the 2025 23rd pick (Asa Newell) and the 2026 8th pick, and slipping free of Trae Young’s $49 million player option.
What was once a team with a lead star that wasn’t quite good enough is now a team with a 24-year-old All-NBA player and the cap space to find his co-star.
Saleh is developing a reputation for thinking outside of the box and making bold decisions. Many front offices would have caved in and given Young a max extension with little negotiation, but Saleh shrewdly held strong and traded him for future flexibility, a move the league quietly approved of.
Another risky move was the turbulent yet seemingly successful Kristaps Porzingis gambit. Saleh traded Terance Mann and a first round pick to Brooklyn, and Georges Niang to Boston, who was promptly cut and did not play a game during the 2025-26 season.
Porzingis was a fantastic player when healthy, but unfortunately the post-viral syndrome he developed in Boston limited him to just 13 games in a Hawks jersey. Still, Atlanta traded him once more for Jonathan Kuminga, who showed promise in Atlanta and notably secured a game-winning defensive stop in Game 3 of the Hawks’ return to the playoffs.
While Atlanta may let Kuminga walk in free agency, the series of moves ultimately turned two fringe rotation players into a young prospect who Atlanta could integrate as part of their long-term plans, with Kuminga potentially fitting well as a Keldon Johnson-style sixth man bully ball scorer.
Saleh has the green light moving forward
It’s easy to overlook the politics of the NBA, but every executive is, to some extent, biased towards a decision that could help their job security. This can lead to passive mindsets from those on the hot seat, potentially limiting their team’s future success as they fight for their jobs.
As mentioned previously, Saleh is a fearless executive who embraces unpopular decisions if he finds them to be a viable path. Still, the vote of confidence from the Hawks franchise will empower Saleh to continue to make the bold moves that will help the team in the future.
In Onsi we trust.
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