Notes and Quotes: Onsi Saleh Speaks After Hawks Make Pair of Picks in First Round

The Atlanta Hawks officially have two new members on their roster.

Atlanta stuck with both picks that they came into the night with, No. 8 and No. 23, and they came away with a pair of talented players that they hope will help their team, possibly as soon as next season, but mainly in the long-term vision that this front office has for this team. Both Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor are going to have a chance to play next season and should be a part of the long-term future.

After the draft wrapped up, Hawks President of Basketball Operations Onsi Saleh spoke with the media and here are the notable quotes and takeaways from his presser.

On trade interest with both picks

"There was a bunch of calls, honestly, different things, different concepts with a lot of different teams. But honestly, we felt that drafting the two players that we drafted, which I told you guys I was going to do, was most important for us. And we got two guys that I think are going to come in instant impact right away. So a lot of different conversations we had in that room, a lot of different calls. But we felt like we made the best decision for the organization moving forward."

On how Kingston Flemings is projected to fit in with this team...

"Yeah, I mean, the great thing about our program is, like, you're going to have to earn the minutes that we give, too. Like, we're not a team that won, you know, 20 games last year. We won 46, and we've got good players on the team already. So everything's going to have to be earned. With Kingston, he's just the ultimate competitor, especially as a position.

If you guys watched him this year, point of attack defender, really high-level offensive player, super efficient. The guy could just kind of do a little bit of everything. And, you know, when you look at also spacing at the next level, there's just so much more than a college game. And it just makes you wonder, like, okay, this guy has so much more space at this next level, and he's probably arguably the fastest guard in the draft. Like, there's something intriguing there. Advantage creation was a big deal for us as well.

This kid, he could create advantages, you know, without a screen, which is pretty rare. That stuff doesn't really happen a lot. And his processing is really high level. Like, he doesn't turn the ball over much at all, if you guys have seen. So he makes really good decisions. High-level defender. High-level competitor has, like, shot it really well this year. And then I just think he can be a three-level scorer on top of that. But, you know, it's going to come day by day. And we're not skipping steps. And everybody that comes to our team has to earn it. And we're looking forward to it because I have a good feeling about these two guys that they will."

On the pre-draft conversations and meetings with Kingston Flemings...

"Just the level of competitor he was and like the leadership qualities that he portrays as well. He really, like his teammates at Houston, would run through a brick wall for the guy. And he'd do the same for each and every one of them. Like the feedback we got from the coaches there as well, just A plus human being. You couldn't ask for a better person in your locker room, somebody to integrate with the group that we have right now.

And just, you know, between the workouts and, you know, different things like that. It's just really impressive that this kid does it at a high level on both ends and does it with the character that he has. It's just so high level in the sense of, I mean, his teammates just, again, like I'll say it again, they run through a brick wall for the kid. And his coaches speak the world of him. And I thought just talking to him, he had a really good way about him. He seemed really professional, has an edge to him. And, yeah, just looking forward to having him here."

On Zuby Ejiofor and what the Hawks hope he improves upon skillwise...

"I mean, Zuby is, the guy's a beast. If you guys seen him play at St. John's, like, you're talking about a guy that switches one through five, can guard point guards, can guard bigs, can guard big wings. Like, it doesn't really matter. I think with him, it's like the high-level processing he has offensively is just like he makes the right play every single time. He's a really good passer for his size, giant wingspan, could do all that stuff.

The thing that, you know, if he continues to develop the outside shot. I think he shot it pretty decently from the free throw line. So there's some indicators there that, you know, make sense for him to be a shooter at the next level too. So, like, now it's not what we want him to do all the time either. Like, this guy is somebody that, you know, you see playoff basketball and he's a guy that fits, right? He can, again, switch one through five, guard big wings, you know.

We needed somebody like that and brings a tenacity, runs up and down the court. But I think the biggest thing I could point to is probably just more of the shooting development. But I think that just comes in time."

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