Onsi Saleh On the Clock: Hawks’ Future Begins Now
don’t look now Chris but the two-day NBA draft will start Wednesday at 8:00 uhhuh in the city of Caucus and you can see it on ESPN oh we’re we’re we’re splitting this one round two rounds into two days I believe so one day isn’t good enough and the Hawks as of right now have selections 13 and 22 and I guess an NBA scout told the AJC that the draft after like six or seven it’s all over the place nobody has any idea what’s going to happen oh man isn’t that every year i mean you could say that every year about the NBA draft well again here’s the difference all it takes is a guy who’s drafted a little bit lower not in the top 10 to be a really good player to become an NBA champion okc’s got one of those and you go “Oh look what could happen to you.” And yeah it could happen to you odds are it won’t happen to you because the guy won’t be in a right environment the system won’t fit him um he’ll think he’s better than he is having to sit and watch as a second round pick i’ve never watched a basketball game in my life nobody’s really up for learning let me give you another piece of news nba practices are not conducive to guys becoming better basketball well you don’t have time to practice they’re called walkthroughs you will work harder in a college preseason camp than you will in an NBA preseason camp and certainly once the season starts being in college is more about learning uh they’ll oh we look at film we break down film coach tells me what to do and not do that’s fine you know what can happen sometimes you’re on the bench you can’t find minutes you don’t get minutes until you get minutes then you find out maybe you’re supposed to get more minutes because I don’t know if you know this Nick plus minus i got to go plus minus i get to play a little bit more maybe it’s as simple as that maybe it’s not but if you’re a second round pick and you’re fighting for minutes on a team that they believe they’ve got guys better than than you you’re not going to learn how to play much better basketball new Hawks GMI Salah met with the media yesterday first he talked about Trey Young and what Trey Young will do down the road for the Hawks we’re locked in with Trey and we talked last year next season we’re just locked in next season ready to move forward and be the best team that we could possibly be moving forward and I think a lot of his leadership from last season went probably unnoticed to the common eye like the way that he helped develop our young guys and make them better was significant so I mean just continuing on with that and hopefully um just making our team better it’s on Salah the quiet storm very laidback it seems but they’re talking about Trey Young who’s under contract for at least one more year and then Trey Young has a player option for 2627 so let’s just say he’s under contract for one more year i don’t think he’s going to opt in i don’t think no well then the big thing will be does he take less money to go play someplace else when the Hawks can pay him the most amount of money remember I don’t know is he still being burned by the not being on the NBA all one all two all three teams remember that the money goes up for these guys that if you get named to an AllNBA team whatever your max deal is it’s more of a max deal no doubt is he working in like what’s his max somebody it’s got to be out there somebody must have written about what Trey Young’s max is and what would he take as a haircut if he decides no I want to go be a free agent who’s a free agent then somebody else can only sign him for x amount of dollars remember the big thing with free agency was if we afford teams to pay a guy so much he’ll never leave guys won’t be jumping ship guys won’t be looking for the next gig unless they’re willing to take $60 million less $70 million less and I think the league thought “Oh no nobody will ever jump.” Now I ask you if I can make 240 someplace and 290 here but I don’t like where I am for 290 you might go take the 240 especially if you’re going to hit free agency one more time because I think you can survive i mean it’s not my money i’ll never know it but I think you can survive on the 240 and be happy elsewhere should he decide to do that but he’s got one more year because again I don’t think he’s going to opt in here’s more from Anzi Salah when it comes to the draft philosophy that he has and when it comes to the draft I always pick the best player like that’s my philosophy i I don’t believe in picking for a position if there’s a guy that makes sense for us we’re going to take him um and always the best player that’s that’s the philosophy there and where you picking right now who knows what’s going to be happening 13 and 22 nobody knows yeah but I’ll be on the first day you know what I can do i don’t have to be around for the second day that’s cool two days of the NBA draft oo this is going to be riveting now he also said he has the authority to go into the luxury that’s a statement nobody knows if that’s true or not well a lot of people are going to tell you that’s not true that is not something Tony wrestler wants to do breaking rumors salah is saying that yeah he’s got the green light if the situation is right to spend more money ask me how he in part got this job how did he get this job Chris when you’re in the interview process you’re going to say and listen here’s what we’re going to say when somebody asks us about the luxury tax yes we are willing to go into the luxury tax do you understand i can’t say that i don’t want Thank you which means you don’t have the job we’re asking you to now leave you have to understand that the answer to that question is yes of course our ownership group Tony Wrestler is willing to go into the tax he’s just looking to buy himself a winner around here because what he’d like to give to you people is a championship understand repeat after me you’re hired all of a sudden he’s been hypnotized well Nikki wrestler’s got a watch that he’s waving in front of him do you want the job or not now I can’t hire you and have you go to the press conference and go “Yeah I’ve been told man we are not going to luxury tax i don’t care who it’s for uh uh no more questions and then you ask him to leave then I have to fire you so if you’d like to be hired I’d like you to stick to the script of course we are willing and ready and able to go into the luxury tax now everybody falls victim to the cliche game including Anzi Salah when he’s talking about what kind of a player he’s looking for in San Antonio we always had this the three things we we cared about most character selfless pound the rock um here it’s it’s competitiveness toughness resilience and adaptability those are the things I look for with players okay in San Anton give me what so he he’s not going to go with the San Antonio model you know the one that won five championships now they hit hard times no doubt about it because after you have five championships you’re probably going to hit hard times he’s going to dump out of the San Antonio thing because here in Atlanta we do things differently this is philosophy with a twist that’s all can I hear listen I’m not asking you can I hear just two cuts i want to hear what the San Antonio philosophy was and and listen this is what it was over there and we all found out that turned into a dud they stink now maybe he’s supposed to follow up that then I would like to hear if we can make a second cut what he’s doing here in Atlanta whether we do it now or later just let me know but we can put it all together in this cut it starts with the San Antonio philosophy and then crosses over to the Hawks i like it as two separate cuts but okay we can do that later go ahead and when it comes to the draft I always pick the best player that’s my philosophy i I want I want the philosophy about San Antonio we did that the cut we just played in San Antonio we always had this the three things we we cared about most character selfless pound the rock um here it’s it’s competitiveness toughness resilience and adaptability those are the things I look for with players so it sounds to me like we dumped out of Pound the Rock mhm and we’re going to go with a little bit more competitiveness yes okay how do you know if a guy is competitive is his college film the one year he’s in college i don’t know yeah you don’t that’s the point you’re on a need to know basis we’ll have players here and we’ll see if we can put together and I don’t know a group of guys with a head coach and nine assistants and we’ll see if we can win finally here’s Anie Solo the New Hawks GM on his change of mind perhaps based on what he saw in the championship NBA finals you know one thing we saw from these two teams Oklahoma and Indiana like they were developmentally focused the rules have changed when it comes to roster construction you look at those two teams like they really developed they built a culture the chemistry and cohesion between those groups I think stood out when you watch them play they they both play the right way so try to bring that mentality and that that direction to our program all right everybody’s trying to do that he’s going to go back to Yeah no doubt about it but he’s going to go back to what I said the other day every owner should get his GM on a Zoom or call him into the office and say “How come that wasn’t us how come that wasn’t us?” Well we didn’t really No no no how come that wasn’t us we’ve had an opportunity for the last I don’t know Tony Russell’s own the Hawks for how many years how many guys does he had running the ship like an Salah so you could all say “Look I’m new here man.” And then the nine guys they hired like in the last two weeks to do this and to do that they can all get I’m new here how about we actually figure out how we’re young um how guys like each other what it is they’re learning and I know this is all cliche cuz they’re the two teams in the finals but there is something to not being there after you’re trying to build something for years and the best you are is I’ll play in and it doesn’t make any sense because as I’ve told you for the last two years when I look at this team on paper they should be better they should be better than a play-in team they should be on the same level as some teams that went deep into the playoffs i’m not saying they’re a championship team but they should be able to go on another playoff run i think they’re talented enough to do that but why isn’t it happening you know what I would like and again maybe this is the draft and probably not though so again hear how I said that maybe it’s the draft but probably not i’d like somebody with a little dog in them around here i I I don’t I don’t want Draymond Green i punch teammates that’s not what I’m talking about maybe it’d be nice to get a guy instead of saying best best player available what if you actually got a guy or what if you traded for a guy what if you got a guy in here who says the rim is mine like we talk about with pitchers this is my office don’t come in here the rim is mine i will knock you on your ass and I promise you I will look at my own teammates and I will say you think that’s defense now i don’t know how many guys there are like that but when was the last time you thought we had a guy around here who had that in him um I’m not even sure it’s been that been a long time who it could be all right i’m I’m just wondering because maybe one of the things you should look at with both of these teams is certainly with Oklahoma City you know what they decided to do every night get the defense off the bus hey fellas I don’t know what we’re going to score but we’re going to bring defense off the bus indiana was not necessarily built like that they were kind of the other way it’s why Styles make fights and why it was a good NBA finals except for the final scores somebody said it was a Gilbert Arenas was asked “What are you going to do?” He said “Absolutely nothing is what we’re going to remember.” He he we’re going to remember Tyresese Hallebertton’s injury which again he’s saying you’re going to remember nothing about the basketball and and maybe that’s okay like somebody got to the finals see Indiana and somebody won it and you’re going to go whoa what did they do i got a I got a clip from a guy who says uh Gilus Alexander is the worst MVP he’s ever seen which is hilarious at this point but we’ll play that later what if it’s okay to be a little bit nondescript you know what you didn’t see man i didn’t see Magic Johnson in his finals man i Okay okay you did
On a recent episode of Cellini & Dimino, hosts Nick Cellini and Chris Dimino discussed the Atlanta Hawks’ new general manager, Onsi Saleh, following his introductory press conference just days ahead of the NBA Draft. The conversation explored the franchise’s ongoing struggles, potential shifts in team-building philosophy, and Saleh’s fresh approach to reshaping the organization. The hosts also examined the future of star guard Trae Young, including his eligibility for a contract extension and what direction the Hawks should take regarding his long-term role with the team.
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