This shouldn’t be taken as an indication of where the Hawks are going (eventually) or certainly any reflection on the basketball-operations department. But about six weeks ago, Travis Schlenk walked into Philips Arena and got a glimpse into how far the Hawks’ organization needs to go.
It was four hours before a day game against Milwaukee in late October. The arena changeover from a concert the night before wasn’t nearly complete. The basketball court wasn’t down. Four rows of floor seats weren’t out. Schlenk, who gets paid for basketball decisions, not party set-up, bordered on apoplectic. He made a few calls and learned arena staff had problems pulling out a set of stands the night before, and the lack of communication that followed led to issues bleeding into game day.
“The Bucks start showing up, and there’s stuff everywhere,” Schlenk said, confirming the story after it was presented to him. “The players couldn’t even get on the court, so I start moving stuff to clear the way for them. I’m setting up chairs because I look on the court and there’s one kid out there by himself, looking at a map. The Bucks start warming up, and they were kind of making a mockery of it. Jason Kidd was like, ‘You’ve known about this game for six months.’”
It was not the organization’s finest moment – and this was even before the Hawks lost the game, which extended a losing streak to six games, which serves as only as miserable microcosm of a 6-22 season for a stripped-down roster in a rebuilding season.
The losing was expected. It shouldn’t distract from some of the positives surrounding the Hawks over the past several months. They’ve opened a jewel of practice facility near Brookhaven, which was long overdue. Philips Arena is well into a major renovation. There are plans for a major development in the eyesore of “The Gulch.” A “G-League” team is coming.
Schlenk, lured from the Golden State Warriors, also seems to know what he's doing. I can find no fault in an executive whose first decision is to get rid of Dwight Howard. He also wisely understood that investing long term in Paul Millsap was not the best course of action right now.
Add a wealthy and driven majority owner in Tony Ressler, and it’s not hard for Schlenk to envision the Hawks becoming relevant again, even a contender, and for more than five minutes.
“This is a little bit like Oakland,” said the new general manager. “Atlanta can be a sleeping giant, given that so many (players) make this their offseason home here. It’s a diverse community. And Tony’s passionate about this.”
But that day in late October was not good. It wasn’t the fault of players or coaches or anybody on his staff. But Schlenk needed to vent. So the day after the Milwaukee game, he called everybody (except players) in the building together for a meeting and Mt. Schlenk erupted.
“My message was basically, three years ago nobody could’ve imagined this (facility) happening,” Schlenk said, motioning to practice courts on the other side of his office window. “But now that it’s happened, let’s take care of it. We have to do everything the right way to make sure we raise everybody else’s level of acceptability around here.”
The Hawks have the NBA’s worst record. That’s not acceptable, a drive for high draft picks notwithstanding.
“I’m not excited about having the worst record in the world, even though some people think that’s the best thing,” he said.
Point guard Dennis Schroder, the team’s best player, was benched the other night for (surprise!) lackadaisical defensive play.
Coach Mike Budenholzer isn’t accustomed to all this losing and emotionally might lose it once in a while. But he is handling it well, Schlenk said. They come from different perspectives -- coaches want to win today, general managers want to win tomorrow -- but they’re on the same page regarding the plan.
It’s not the fault of the players. There have been some injuries to a roster that would’ve struggled even if healthy. Some players shouldn’t be here. Some shouldn’t be playing this many minutes. Logic says some who are playing well at times can expect to be traded for assets because that’s what rebuilds are about.
The record is worse than what Schlenk anticipated, but the pain isn’t a complete shock. He knows what’s coming: The Hawks have three first-round picks (their own, Minnesota’s and Houston’s) and payroll flexibility. He has strong relationships with agents, which wasn’t necessarily the case in recent years with the Hawks.
The Hawks aren’t getting much attention in Atlanta against the backdrop of college and pro football and the Braves’ bizarre offseason. But that’s not a bad thing when a team is losing. It dawned on Schlenk early this season in Miami, that it was the first time he attended a game that wasn’t sold out in four years.
He’s not over a team of rock stars anymore. Nobody’s watching. When they’re ready to watch again, the hope is the chairs will be out.
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