Hawks GM Onsi Saleh Details Why Atlanta Did Not Make A Big Splash At The Trade Deadline

The Hawks had a busy trade deadline, but they did not make a massive trade to bring in a superstar as some had talked about

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

The Atlanta Hawks were a busy team at the NBA Trade Deadline, but they did not make what you could call "a big splash" trade for a star player.

Atlanta made forward facing moves that help them continue to build for the future. They acquired three second round picks and kept their options open for flexibility for the summer, where they could have ample cap space and optionality.

The Hawks were mentioned as fringe teams to make big moves for stars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo (who was not traded) and Anthony Davis (traded to the Wizards), but the Hawks kept their eye on the future.

When speaking with the media yesterday, Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh detailed the Hawks approach at the deadline and why this was not the time to make any big moves:

"When you guys see around the league, like, I think when I came here, almost two years ago, we were at a deficit. Not only that, but also just tools, like the trade exception that we got was really important. That's going to carry over to this, the next year's deadline as well. So we felt that that was critical on what we're trying to do, just getting more tools to be able to build. And, like, that's really where we're at right now.

We're developmental, we're building towards something that's sustainable here. We just aren't in a place to go and trade, you know, three first -round picks, two first-round picks to try and figure this out now. We're not at that face. I'm really excited about our group. I feel like we've been competitive, and just a huge kudos to Quinn. He's been a rock star given, you know, we've given them basically, what, four or five iterations of this team already this season and where we played 53 games.

It's pretty remarkable the job he's done to both like develop our players and these guys are having career years to where we're at now and we're still being competitive in a you know a game under 500 with a bunch of new players so we're trying to figure this out still and but we do feel really good about the group that we have we feel like they're it's a competitive group we also felt like we um we helped our group for this season and the future."

Wil Kuminga make an impact?

Dec 4, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (1) dunks the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers during the third quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

While the Hawks did not go out and add a superstar. they added an intriguing young talent in Jonathan Kuminga. Kuminga has flashed high upside, but for various reasons, he did not work out in Golden State. He will be trying to make an impact on the Hawks once he returns after the All-Star Break.

This season, Kuminga is averaging 12.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 23.8 minutes. In 13 starts, he is averaging 14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 28.4 minutes of play. He has netted 10-or-more points 11 times this season, including recording season highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Memphis on Oct. 27.

The No. 7 overall pick by the Warriors in 2021, Kuminga has appeared in 278 career games (97 starts), averaging 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 22.1 minutes (.503 FG%). In 2024-25, he was one of only five players in the NBA to post multiple 30-point games off the bench. The 6-7 forward has seen action in 34 career playoff games (four starts), owning averages of 7.0 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11.4 minutes, winning an NBA title in 2022.

Prior to joining Golden State, Kuminga spent the 2020-21 campaign with G League Ignite, recording 15.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals in 13 games (all starts).

The Hawks are building for the future and when the time is right, they can push their asset chips in the middle to go and acquire a star.