Onsi Saleh said he does not care who starts for Atlanta, stressing that the Hawks' depth and defined roles matter more than the opening lineup.
Onsi Saleh said this week that he does not care who starts for the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks' president of basketball operations made the comment during his preseason media availability, days before Atlanta opens training camp in Nashville with 15 players on standard contracts.
Three of last season's regulars started nearly every night. Jalen Johnson started all 72 of his games, and Dyson Daniels started all 76 of his. Nickeil Alexander-Walker opened the season as a reserve and started 71 of his 78 appearances on the way to the Kia NBA Most Improved Player award.
Atlanta has since added Luguentz Dort and Aaron Wiggins from Oklahoma City, drafted Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor in the first round, re-signed Jock Landale, and traded for Dorian Finney-Smith.
Hawks Believe Depth Will Be an Advantage
Saleh said Atlanta can send waves of players at opponents because few teams have the depth it has.
"When you look at our team, our strength is the team in a lot of ways, right?" Saleh said. "Our depth is where we're going to have our advantage, I feel like, this season. And with that comes sacrifice with minutes, right? There's going to be sacrifices with minutes played and in different areas, but it's for the success of the team as we move forward."
"It doesn't matter who starts or finishes for us," Saleh continued. "When you're on this roster and how we've constructed it, you're going to play a role, and that role is going to be significant to our success. And we feel like we brought in guys that fit the culture that we're trying to build, just being super unselfish and sharing the ball and guarding and playing together and being on a string offensively and defensively. So we're really excited about the group that we have."
"I really think starting is one of these interesting things in the league that I don't really give a s--- about — the first four minutes of the game," Saleh added. "I don't know. It's probably the most meaningless minutes of the game, too. And the thing that matters at the end is, did you compete that night to give yourself the best opportunity to win? And we have a lot of guys that could help us win this season."
Atlanta went 46-36 last season, won the Southeast Division, and finished sixth in the Eastern Conference. The 46 wins were the franchise's most since 2015-16, and 20 of them came in 26 games after the All-Star break.
Saleh said rotation decisions ultimately belong to Hawks coach Quin Snyder, who agreed to a multiyear extension in June.
Saleh Expects Competitive Hawks Training Camp
In Saleh's words, the 2026-27 Hawks will be "a very competitive team" that gets better as the season progresses.
"I think it's interesting," Saleh explained. "Camp, I don't know if it's necessarily an environment to, like, win minutes, as opposed to, like, identify roles and how guys can help. But I do feel like our camp is going to be super competitive. You guys have seen guys like Zuby in the summer league and playing at St. John's and, like, him guarding different guys on our team. He's a super physical guy. Kingston's going to pick up full court and get into you. Lu, same thing. Dyson. So we feel like our camp is going to be physical. It's going to be demanding."
"But we do feel like camp is going to bring this team together a little bit more, too, because we do have a lot of new players, and just getting acclimated for them, just like any other team, right?" Saleh detailed. "Other teams added a bunch of different players this season, and we're no different. We added a lot of different guys, and we added guys that are going to play. So I think camp is more so going to be more indicative of the style of play and emphasizing that and the physicality that we talked about and getting off to the right start."
Atlanta Has Several Rotation Options
CJ McCollum came to Atlanta from the Washington Wizards in the Jan. 9 trade that sent Trae Young to Washington. He averaged 18.7 points per game with the Hawks and signed a one-year, $21 million extension in June.
Onyeka Okongwu appeared in 74 games last season, averaging 15.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists.
Flemings went eighth overall out of Houston. He started all 37 of his games as a freshman and led the Cougars in scoring.
Ejiofor was the 23rd pick. He played for Rick Pitino at St. John's. Asa Newell enters his second season, and Corey Kispert, who came over with McCollum in the Young trade, is also back.
Mouhamed Gueye will miss training camp and the preseason. Henri Veesaar, the 52nd pick, tore his right ACL in a Sept. 15 workout and is expected to sit out the season.
Two other roster spots turned over in September. Atlanta waived Devin Carter, who has since joined the Boston Celtics on an Exhibit 10 contract, and moved Buddy Hield and Ryan Nembhard to Charlotte in the Finney-Smith deal.
Media day is Monday. The Hawks open the regular season Oct. 21 at the Orlando Magic, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. ET.
