Hawks’ extension of Quin Snyder keeps the team on an upward trajectory

The last time we saw Snyder and his team, they were getting absolutely bludgeoned by the New York Knicks at the start of their historic run to the NBA Finals. And, while it can’t be ignored, it also shouldn’t distract from what is happening.

The Hawks have an All-NBA selection in forward Jalen Johnson. Snyder has overseen the development of the winners of the past two Most Improved Player awards, Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

After first-year general manager Onsi Saleh (since promoted in late May to president of basketball operations) reassembled the roster following the trade of franchise player Trae Young, the Hawks went 20-6 after the All-Star break to advance directly to the playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season. (Saleh was runner-up for NBA Executive of the Year, and rightly so.)

The team’s second-half surge might be best captured with this statistic: Even with a roster that had been stitched together on the fly following Young’s momentous departure, the Hawks became just the third team in NBA history to finish 10 games above .500 (46-36) after being at least four games under .500 at the All-Star break.

Saleh holds two first-round picks in the upcoming draft, including the No. 8 selection.

Johnson and Daniels are contracted through the 2029-30 season, Alexander-Walker through 2027-28 with a player option for 2028-29 and center Onyeka Okongwu through 2027-28.

Not least, Saleh and Snyder are tight knit as a leadership team.

It has been years since the Hawks were on stable footing of this degree with a path to getting better.

Consider that last year, the Hawks had just fired general manager Landry Fields. At the time, it was a confusing move, given he had just completed what was easily his best season since his July 2022 promotion, highlighted by his fleecing of the New Orleans Pelicans in the trade for Daniels.

There was no clear sense of what was going to happen with Young as he went into the final season of his contract (not including the player option he held for 2026-27). The Hawks had landed in the play-in tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The consistent mediocrity symbolized their place in the NBA.

Johnson, the player who would become their facilitator and a nightly triple-double threat, didn’t give much indication of what lay ahead. His fourth season had been limited to 36 games because of a season-ending shoulder injury, and he had two career triple-doubles to his name.

In 72 games this past season, he collected 13, tied for second-most in the league.

While Fields’ work deserves commendation, it should be said that time has demonstrated that owner Tony Ressler made the right call in making the change to Saleh and pairing him with Snyder, who even this season was the object of fan discontent.

All that said, the Hawks have a long way to go to become the championship contender that they aspire to be. They need more depth, more playmaking guards and size.

But extending Snyder solidifies the franchise’s future and indicates the understanding that it will take time.

Will they get there?

It’ll depend on how well Saleh and Snyder continue to do their jobs, and if players can stay healthy and develop. But they have a plan backed up by results on the floor, and that’s more than can be said of this franchise — which hasn’t reached the NBA Finals since 1961, when it was in St. Louis — in a long time.

You can now get my column sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter here.