The Next Step For the Atlanta Hawks Offseason Is Clear After Onsi Saleh's Extension

The Atlanta Hawks' season ended nearly a month ago when they fell to the New York Knicks in six games during the first round of the NBA playoffs and Atlanta has gotten a head start on their offseason.

The first order of business was the NBA Draft Lottery. The Hawks ended up with the No. 8 overall pick, a bit of a disappointment, but still a strong landing spot for a team that just finished the season 20-6 and made the playoffs.

The next order of business was to not only give general manager Onsi Saleh a contract extension, but to promote him to President of Basketball Operations. Saleh has done a great job of positioning the Hawks for the future, and while there is still work to be done to make them a legitimate NBA championship contender, this is arguably the best position Atlanta has been in in a long time.

What's next?

Quin Snyder Atlanta Hawk — Apr 23, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder on the sideline against the New York Knicks in the first quarter during game three of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Of course, the NBA Draft and free agency are going to be major points of the offseason for the Hawks, but there is one thing that the Hawks must take care of and by all indications, they will.

That is the contract extension for head coach Quin Snyder. Snyder has one year left on his deal, but there has been multiple reports that the Hawks are very interested in keeping Snyder around.

After the season was over, Saleh was asked about Snyder being the coach of this team in the future and it sounds like that is very much the plan in Atlanta:

“He has been an unbelievable partner in all of this, and it has been so nice, just having a partner who you're so aligned with. It makes it easy. I understand the types of players that work for him and understand the types of guys that make sense for us as an organization, and we always have healthy dialogue. We talk every day. He's unbelievable.”

Before the season ended, NBA insider Marc Stein reported that extension talks between the Hawks and Snyder were expected to be had once the season was over for the Hawks. While nothing has been officially announced, with less than four weeks until the NBA Draft, it makes all the sense in the world for Atlanta to extend Snyder an ensure that he is the coach of this team moving forward.

Under Snyder's leadership, Jalen Johnson has transformed into an All-NBA player, Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have won the NBA's Most Improved Player Award in back to back seasons (first time in NBA history), and Onyeka Okongwu has turned into one of the best shooting big men in the NBA. This past season was Snyder's most successful in terms of wins and losses.

During his time as head coach, Snyder has also had to deal with injuries and a constantly changing roster. When he first arrived, it was a roster headlined by Dejounte Murray and Trae Young. Then Murray was moved in trade to New Orleans that landed them Daniels. It was a roster reset after that, with Trae Young still leading the franchise, but the Hawks came up short in the play-in tournament.

His finest work was this season. Atlanta came into the season as a much hyped contender in the Eastern Conference after signing Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard, as well as trading for Kristaps Porzingis, but injuries to Young and Porzingis shifted the tone of the season early. Atlanta then made big changes in the season, trading Young to Washington for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, then at the deadline, moving Porzingis, Kennard, and Vit Krejci while acquiring Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield, Gabe Vincent, and Jock Landale.

There have been constant moving pieces during Snyder's time with the Hawks, and he deserves a lot of credit for guiding them through it. Bringing him back on a new contract is the wise thing to do and the next clear move for the Hawks this offseason.

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