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“If there are deals to be done, why wait, is my philosophy,” said Saleh, who replaced Landry Fields in April. “If you like something that makes a lot of sense, we’re going to do that. We just do what’s best for our organization. And, you know, I’m not one to really wait on anything like that. Trae has been so huge in our community. “Him and (his wife) Shelby, what they’ve done, we just wish them the best. They’ve been phenomenal for our organization. (We’re) talking about a guy that’s been the face of our franchise for quite a long time. I really wish him the best, and he’s going to do some cool stuff over there, too.” “But we like the trade, and what we did was something we really thought would help us now and in the future,” Saleh added. “The players coming back, I think they’re excellent fits with us and make a lot of sense for us, and we get deep in our rotation, too. I think you guys kind of saw a little bit of that last night (in a 124-111 win over the Golden State Warriors).”
Overtime Elite is dipping into the NBA executive ranks for its latest hire. Former Hawks GM and NBA player Landry Fields has joined the nine-team basketball league for 16- to 20-year-olds as the president of league operations. The 37-year-old will oversee all competitive, development, and operational aspects of the league while looking for ways to grow it.
Fields told FOS that he explored other jobs in NBA front offices before taking the job with OTE. His family played a factor in the decision, as he doesn’t have to uproot his wife and three children from Atlanta in his new role. Fields says that with his experience playing in a totally different era before NIL and the transfer portal, he’s aware of what he can and can’t relate to with younger players now. “I think curiosity is a very underutilized skill amongst leadership,” Fields told FOS. “And that is something that I leverage often just to gain perspectives and learn things that for me creates connections among staff members and players.”
Atlanta has the league's only current vacancy for a lead decision-maker in the front office, with Toronto's Masai Ujiri and Giannis Antetokounmpo's agent Alex Saratsis emerging last week as the splashiest new names that the Hawks have pursued in their quest to hire a new president of basketball operations. Yet league sources told The Stein Line last week that the Hawks have also not ruled out the prospect of suspending that search and simply hiring a senior adviser to assist Onsi Saleh, whom Atlanta promoted to general manager on the same day last month (April 21) that it dismissed Landry Fields.
Two other candidates who interviewed with Atlanta this week, according to league sources, to replace the ousted Landry Fields: Former Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth and former Kings general manager Monte McNair.
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Jake Fischer: So, it's not exactly a résumé for Landry Fields that's riddled with mistakes or someone that, you know, kind of needed to be ousted — like in Sacramento or like in New Orleans — where both those two teams had legitimate playoff aspirations: for the Kings and for the Pelicans. So, this is a bit of a surprise. It took a lot of people inside Atlanta by surprise, like we said. And Landry Fields, to my understanding, was a pretty beloved figure in that front office.
Chris Haynes: In wake of Atlanta Hawks dismissing GM Landry Fields, the organization is also parting ways with VP of Pro Personnel Grant Liffmann after three seasons with the team, league sources informed me.
Jeff Zillgitt: News release from Hawks on firing of Landry Fields as GM, hiring of Onsi Saleh as GM and search for president of basketball operations: pic.x.com/bgIpWnBYtK
Law Murray: The statement from Hawks GM Landry Fields does not mention Bones Hyland Says TMann is a competitive and legitimate two-way player that team liked as player/person for a long time And that team is grateful for passion and heart Bogdanovic played with
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Adrian Wojnarowski: Free agent guard Vit Krejci has agreed on a four-year, $10 million deal to return to the Atlanta Hawks, his agents Alex Saratsis and Phillip Parun of @octagonBsktball tell ESPN. At 24, Krejci has been a player development success story for Quin Snyder, Landry Fields and Hawks. pic.twitter.com/xGm90reFTQ
Lauren L. Williams: Landry Fields said that the Hawks are working with Bruno Fernando’s camp to extend the deadline for his guarantee date, which is today.
Ben Golliver: Alex Sarr on Hawks’ Landry Fields saying potential No. 1 pick declined to work out for them: “I have a great team around me. … I trust them. I’m not going to get into the specifics of where I worked out and where I didn’t.”
Brad Rowland: Landry Fields on Alex Sarr not working out for the Hawks (via 92.9 The Game today): "He was scheduled to come work out. We had it on the books and then he declined to come work out." Also said he knows which teams Sarr worked out for but he declined to share.