Atlanta Hawks GM Firing Could Signal More Change Coming

The move on Atlanta’s end wasn’t necessarily shocking. Fields has been the Hawks’ GM since October of 2020, and the team has been unable to make a real splash outside of a one-off run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. From there, it’s been a downward trajectory, including nabbing the No. 1 overall pick with a jump at last year’s 2024 NBA Draft.

The timing is somewhat surprising, though, as Atlanta's seen somewhat of a youth resurgance this season despite a still-middling record.

The Hawks are interestingly constructed right now, owning a superstar in guard Trae Young, and a few other win-now pieces, but mostly a young developing core led by the top pick Zaccharie Risacher.

Change has already come in the form of letting Fields go, but more is sure to follow. And the Hawks have a few different options in terms of roster construction moving forward.

The most obvious would be the selling of win-now pieces and starting another rebuild, this time with prospects like Most Improved and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Dyson Daniels and Risacher at the helm.  

A rebuild would of course need to be done through the NBA Draft, but the team has unfortunately offloaded plenty of its near-future draft assets in order to add pieces around Young. If they wanted to kick it off sooner than later, they’d certainly need to get capital back in any Young trade.

Atlanta fortunately has Sacramento's pick at the 2025 NBA Draft, which it should land barring a massive jump from the Kings.