Shortly after the 2024-25 season ended for the Atlanta Hawks, team owner/governor Tony Ressler elected to make a sweeping move in the front office. On April 21, Ressler relieved GM Landry Fields of his duties with the organization, and he announced the desire to hire a president of basketball operations to lead Atlanta's front office.

“Every offseason we evaluate how we operate and ways we can improve our organization," Ressler said in a release. "As we enter this pivotal offseason, we have several complex decisions ahead of us, and we are committed to providing the human and financial resources needed to ensure that we navigate these decisions with a high level of precision and foresight. Adding an accomplished, senior-level leader to provide strategic direction and structure as well as partnering with Onsi and our talented front office is a top priority.”

Since then, the search has taken on a number of different reported paths involving numerous candidates. However, things have quieted considerably in recent weeks, leading to increased speculation that Onsi Saleh, the team's newly appointed general manager, could simply take on the lead role in the front office without a significant external hire. Still, Ressler's published words are interesting when viewed through the lens of what he wants in a new president, and here is a hierarchy of the reported candidates.

was reportedly on Ressler's list, but the former Warriors executive seems comfortable in his ESPN role. He also reportedly turned down the Suns for a similar position.

Former Hawks big man was one of the first reported candidates, but he reportedly bowed out of the search in the early stages.

Two recently unemployed executives are at least interesting to monitor in the search. Former Nuggets GM has a championship ring as a lead executive, but things soured at the end of his tenure in Denver. He's reportedly been in the mix, but there is not a ton of current heat behind the scenes. Former Kings executive has also been tied to the job but, while he should probably get a small pass for working under poor ownership in Sacramento, his track record was still relatively mixed with the Kings.

Ressler has reportedly been intrigued by the idea of hiring an agent to lead Atlanta's front office. The theory would be that an agent could pair with Saleh to form an intriguing partnership, and , current agent for Giannis Antetokounmpo and others, has been at least tied to the search. Others have pointed to Austin Brown, who is the current agent for Trae Young and others, though it is notable that the buzz has quieted on this front.

Aside from the aforementioned Bob Myers, the biggest name tied to Atlanta's search is Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri. There have been reports of mutual interest between the two parties, though Ujiri remains under contract with the Raptors and running their basketball operation at the moment. Could the Hawks pry him away? Potentially, but the multi-week gap between in the initial reporting and now without resolution could point to an impasse.

As of early June, the most likely option might be Onsi Saleh. It would admittedly be a bit strange for the Hawks to publicly announce a wide-ranging search and end up simply empowering the person already in the building. Still, there has been buzz about the possibility since the first day of the search, and Marc Stein's recent reporting indicates that option is gaining steam. In fact, there was recent reporting from Stein that the Hawks could entertain bringing former GM Danny Ferry back in a senior advisor role to flank Saleh in the front office.

Whether Ferry returns in an advisory capacity or not, the best of the publicly reported options may be simply riding with Saleh. After all, he has a sterling reputation in the league and, while the one knock against his candidacy would be that Saleh has never been the No. 1 in a front office before, that would be the case for any number of candidates, including any agents or first-time executives.

If nothing else, this search has taken quite some time and, for the last six weeks, Saleh has been the one running the day-to-day operation, which includes draft prep, roster planning, and more.