How The Quin Snyder and Onsi Saleh Extensions Impact The Atlanta Hawks' Summer Moves

With their head coach and general manager locked up on new extensions, the Hawks have their leadership core set for the foreseeable future. What does that mean for their offseason moves?

Apr 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder coaches against the New York Knicks during the second quarter of game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Hawks promoting and extending Onsi Saleh seemed like a foregone conclusion after the excellent work he did last summer. Saleh made one of the best moves of free agency when he added Nickeil Alexander-Walker on a sign-and-trade. Fair extensions for Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson were also agreed to without drama. In short, there's nothing of significance to criticize Saleh for since he took the role of lead decision maker.

Extending head coach Quin Snyder comes with more questions. Although Snyder brought the Hawks back to the playoffs this season, it's fair to criticize some of his rotation decisions and his inability to harness the skills of Zaccharie Risacher. One could also argue that the injuries of Jalen Johnson and the strange construction of the rosters Snyder was given have played a more significant role in his 133-135 record as the Hawks' head coach.

Regardless of how fans might feel about the decision to extend Snyder, he is here for the foreseeable future. It's important to note that a newly extended coach can be fired if the roster performance is bad enough. Mike Brown. Michael Malone, Monty Williams and Mike Budenholzer all stand out as examples of coaches who signed new deals and were fired shortly after. This new extension doesn't mean that Snyder's job is completely safe, but it does mean that the Hawks are going to let him continue working with this roster through the 2026-27 season unless they drastically underperform.

Now that it is guarenteed this tandem will be guiding the Hawks through this summer, here's a look at what it could mean this summer.

Emphasis on Expiring Contracts

Sep 29, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mandatory Credit: Atlanta Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh poses for a photo during Media Day. Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Saleh has repeatedly stressed how he wants to keep flexibility open. He doesn't want to add or sign deals that cripple Atlanta's long-term salary cap if those players aren't contributors. That means that the Hawks are probably going to continue targeting veterans on expiring deals. Jonathan Kuminga, Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kennard and Gabe Vincent all stand out as examples of players Atlanta added in order to either boost their ceiling or provide depth without sacrificing any long-term dollars.

For a coach like Snyder, that's probably a good thing. Snyder knows that he has to start making some deeper runs into the postseason with this team to keep his job. The best way to do that is by developing the young talent and adding veterans to help on the margins. When it's necessary, the Hawks are probably going to be shopping for a second star to take some pressure off Jalen Johnson as a halfcourt creator. That could happen this summer, but the newly-minted extensions Saleh and Snyder signed takes pressure off for them to make an all-in move to boost this roster's ceiling.

In short, they can afford to slow play this for one more transaction cycle.

Risacher Running Out of Time

Apr 18, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (10) warms up before the 2026 NBA Playoffs game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

It may already be too late for Zaccharie Risacher's time as a member of the Hawks. He was taken with the first overall pick in the 2024 draft and he's not even one of the six best players in the class. Stephon Castle, Jared McCain, Donovan Clingan, Alex Sarr, Ajay Mitchell and Jaylen Wells are inarguably better players than he is right now. The general manager who drafted him, Landry Fields, is no longer in charge. Last season, he was passed up in the rotation for Jonathan Kuminga and even Corey Kispert.

He did show some signs of being a contributing 3&D wing in his rookie season and he's only 21 years old. There's a possibility that he takes a significant step forward in his third season. That being said, there's not much to bank on right now. The Hawks were 6.4 points better with him off the court, he finished as a net-negative in every two-man grouping with a locked-in member of Atlanta's core and the self-creation didn't take a notable leap forward.

It's not like he's completely useless as an NBA player. He's fine in transition, he gets some deflections and he's a passable shooter at the NBA level. However, the Hawks need players who can add something to their half-court offense, At the moment, that isn't an area where Risacher can help Atlanta. It seems increasingly likely that he's going to be traded this summer if the Hawks can find the right deal and the current leadership core certainly hasn't given much indication that he's an untouchable piece of the roster.

Another Center Coming Soon?

Dec 31, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) drives to the basket behind Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Whether it's with the No. 8 overall pick or in the free agency/trade market, it makes too much sense for the Hawks to add another center.

Onyeka Okongwu is a great player and capable of being a starting center for a good team. He did pretty well while guarding Karl-Anthony Towns relative to the rest of the Knicks opponents and he ahs turned himself into a legitimate floor spacer at the center positiion. There are only a handful of centers who have a jump shot as good as Okongwu's. It's an advantage that the Hawks shouldn't relinquish by trading him.

However, there are always going to be certain matchups where Okongwu struggles due to his relatively small stature as a center. He could benefit from playing alongside a bigger rim protector and he's also not the best rebounder. Therefore it'd make a lot of sense for the Hawks' front office to pursue someone in the mold of four-time DPOY winner Rudy Gobert. He had a lot of success with using Gobert as a drop defender, rebound machine and rim protector. The Jazz turned into a No. 1 seed and frequent contender in no small part due to Gobert's excellence on defense.

It's not inconcievable for the Hawks to acquire Gobert himself this summer. He's only got two years on his contract and the Timberwolves are becoming an expensive roster with little depth. Joan Beringer showed some interesting flashes last season and the Timberwolves should probably make a serious attempt to keep Ayo Dosonmu on a new, long-term deal. That means that a trade that sends either Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert or both out of Minnesota could go down.

Regardless, Snyder probably regrets not drafting Donovan Clingan when the Hawks had the opportunity to. He has the job security to justify going after a seven-foot rim protector who can address Atlanta's poor form on the boards and help an exciting part of their young core.