Tim Bontemps joins Hawks as strategic adviser
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Tim Bontemps has been hired by the Atlanta Hawks as a strategic adviser and will report to president of basketball operations Onsi Saleh.
- Bontemps, 41, covered the NBA since 2012 and spent his last eight seasons at ESPN, where he also co-hosted "The Hoop Collective" podcast and was known for blunt analysis.
- Bontemps previously spent three years as the national NBA writer at The Washington Post and three years as the Brooklyn Nets beat writer at the New York Post, where he started in an entry-level role after graduating from St. Bonaventure in 2007.
- Onsi Saleh reshaped Atlanta's roster in his first year as lead basketball executive, most notably trading four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert in a midseason deal.
- The Hawks went 46-36 last season and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual-champion New York Knicks.
Why it matters: Atlanta is adding a long-tenured national NBA voice to a front office that just underwent a major roster overhaul under Saleh. Bontemps' hire signals the Hawks want front-office strategy informed by someone who spent over a decade covering league trends and player movement at the national level.
