At the beginning of the offseason, the Atlanta Hawks relieved General Manager Landry Fields of his duties. They promoted assistant general manager Onsi Saleh in his place and searched for a president of basketball operations. However, Atlanta likely heads into the 2025 NBA Draft with Saleh as the head man in the front office. The Hawks also filled two positions under him with Bryson Graham and Peter Dinwiddie. This new group has its hands full, gauging prospects and thinking of the most optimal use of a value traded player exception.
Hawks’ New Front Office Will Be Tested Early
What Do Bryson Graham and Peter Dinwiddie Bring to the Hawks?
Similar to Fields, Saleh did not have general manager experience before his time in Atlanta. He served as the Golden State Warriors’ vice president of basketball strategy & team counsel. The Hawks brought in Graham and Dinwinddie to add experienced players to the front office.
Graham spent 15 years with the New Orleans Pelicans, including serving as the general manager in the 2024-25 campaign. His draft expertise came from 2014-2019, where he spent time as scouting coordinator and director of college scouting. “Bryson is widely regarded as one of the league’s top young talent evaluators,” Saleh said.
Graham was instrumental in drafting several successful Pelicans players over the last few seasons, including Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Yves Missi, and Jose Alvarado. Graham now reunites with 2024-25 NBA Most Improved Player, Dyson Daniels, whom the Pelicans drafted with the eighth pick in 2022. Atlanta owns the 13th and 22nd picks in this week’s draft. Graham, who reports directly to Saleh, likely has a sizeable say in who the Hawks take.
Dinwiddie comes to Atlanta after five seasons as the executive vice president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers. He spent 14 years with the Indiana Pacers before leaving for Philadelphia. As senior vice president of strategy and analytics, Dinwiddie will likely work closely with head coach Quin Snyder. Now going into his third full season in Atlanta, Snyder leans on analytics for his fast-paced, motion offense. The Hawks finished third in pace this season, developing shots at the rim and beyond the arc.
Hawks Have Important Post-Draft Decisions
While Atlanta is busy scouting prospects, it has another impact decision to make before July 7. The Hawks created a $25.2 million traded player exception (TPE), which expires on July 7, as part of the Dejounte Murray trade. They have an opportunity to bring in quality, veteran depth—an area that sunk them in the final stretch of this campaign.
According to ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel, the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks are potential destinations for free agent Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
One of the more intriguing pieces of intel to come out of yesterday’s piece that teams around the league at monitoring:
Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s FA and where he ends up. One interesting team mentioned: The Atlanta Hawks.
Atlanta owns a $25.2M TPE they want to utilize. https://t.co/ba6jWUA0pV
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) June 21, 2025
Atlanta could apply the TPE in a sign-and-trade scenario for Alexander-Walker, who brings in much-needed shooting and veteran guard depth. He shot 38.1% from deep this season on 4.5 attempts per contest. He would operate as the backup point guard. However, at 6’5″, Alexander-Walker could play next to Trae Young in spurts. His relentless on-ball defense with Daniels gives Atlanta two lockdown perimeter defenders next to Young.
The Hawks have many key decisions to make on the horizon.
© Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
The post Hawks’ New Front Office Will Be Tested Early appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.