For the second time in three years, the Hawks have some turmoil in their front office.
On Monday, the Hawks announced that they fired general manager Landry Fields and kicked off a search for a president of basketball operations.
In the same announcement, they said they promoted Onsi Saleh from assistant to general manager, effective immediately. Saleh will handle all day-to-day basketball operations for the team.
The news of Fields’ termination comes after the Hawks finished the regular season with a 40-42 record, along with an elimination from the Play-In Tournament. Fields went through with the annual end-of-season interviews with the media Saturday. In his session, he discussed the patience the team had for weathering the ups and downs of developing young talent while simultaneously competing for something bigger.
But the Hawks’ higher-ups decided they were ready for a new direction. Though the Hawks promoted Fields in June 2022, the 36-year-old general manager served as the lead decision-maker for 28 months. Travis Schlenk, Fields’ predecessor, remained in that role until December 2022.
During that time, Fields, along with the front office, acquired Saddiq Bey for five second-round picks, decided to move on from coach Nate McMillan in February 2023 before hiring Quin Snyder later that month. Fields then drafted guard Kobe Bufkin with the team’s first-round pick in the 2023 NBA draft, as well as traded their 2027 second-round pick to draft Mouhamed Gueye. The Hawks also drafted Seth Lundy.
Fields and the Hawks stood pat at the February 2024 trade deadline despite months of speculation on the status of guard Dejounte Murray. The Hawks eventually dealt Murray to the Pelicans, netting Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., EJ Liddell, Cody Zeller, a first-round pick in June’s NBA draft, as well as a conditional 2027 first-round pick (least favorable of Bucks/Pelicans, protected top four).
Here’s a timeline of some of the moves during Fields’ tenure with the Hawks.
Oct. 2, 2020 - Landry Fields hired as assistant GM.
June 13, 2022 - Fields promoted to GM.
June 20, 2022 - Hawks hired Kyle Korver as director of player affairs.
June 23, 2022 - Hawks drafted AJ Griffin with No. 16 pick.
June 30, 2022 - Hawks traded three first-round picks in a swap for Dejounte Murray.
Dec. 21, 2022 - Travis Schlenk moves down to senior adviser.
Jan. 16, 2023 - Promoted Kyle Korver to assistant GM.
Feb. 9, 2023 - Traded five seconds for Bey.
Feb. 21, 2023 - Fired McMillan.
Feb. 26, 2023 - Hired Snyder as head coach.
June 22, 2023 - Drafted Bufkin at No. 15, Gueye at No. 39, Lundy at No. 46.
July 7, 2023 - Traded John Collins to Jazz for Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick.
Oct. 23, 2023 - Signed Onyeka Okongwu to a four-year, $62 million contract extension.
May 2, 2024 - Named Saleh as assistant GM.
June 26, 2024 - Drafted Zaccharie Risacher No. 1 overall.
June 26, 2024- Traded Griffin to the Rockets for the No. 44 pick, swapped with Heat to pick Nikola Djurisic at No. 43.
June 28, 2024 - Agreed to trade Murray to Pelicans for Daniels, Nance, Liddell, Zeller and two first-round picks.
Oct. 21, 2024 - Signed Jalen Johnson to five-year, $150 million extension.
Feb. 6, 2025 - Hawks trade De’Andre Hunter for Georges Niang, Caris LeVert, three second-round picks and two pick swaps, and they traded Bogdan Bogdanovic and three second-round picks for Terance Mann.
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