Positive Hawks Article--Good Read

[Wurider05]

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/07/12/travis-schlenk-atlanta-hawks-rebuild-youth-manageable-contracts

 

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LAS VEGAS -- All around Atlanta, the city he now calls home, there are heavyweight construction projects taking place. The Falcons are moving into a state-of-the-art football stadium, and the Braves are playing their first year at a new baseball complex that’s still not fully complete. Meanwhile, Philips Arena will spend the next few dusty years undergoing a transformation.

And the team that plays at Philips? That would be the Hawks. They’re about to feel a nip and tuck, too.

Travis Schlenk is the GM running the team now and he wasted no time performing a facelift this summer to rid the Hawks of veterans who didn’t fit his vision. He traded Dwight Howard and refused to extend an offer to retain free agent Paul Millsap, the Hawks’ best player. The new plan, he said, is to invest in the future and steer clear of bad contracts. And in that process, the Hawks are almost certain to feel the pinch in the standings and perhaps drop into the draft lottery, initially, at least.

Schlenk refuses to embrace the idea of tanking and cringes at the thought of enduring a string of bad seasons, but he’s not naive, either: The task of revamping the Hawks could come at a cost.

 

Dwight Howard will be working the paint for the Hornets next season.

When they won 60 games and secured the top record in the East two seasons ago and reached the conference finals, they had four All-Stars in the rotation. Right now, there’s no All-Stars or even a single player with a solid track record of success. Three of their top four scorers from last season are gone, and also their top four rebounders. The meat of the roster is rich with players in their mid-20s or younger who have yet to gain much, if any, traction in the league.

But that’s the plan: Develop the young players on hand, add a few more to the mix through the Draft, keep the payroll as lean as possible and collect enough assets to trade or keep. Once a new nucleus is built, the Hawks can then fortify the roster with a free-agent signing.

If only it were that simple and easy.

Schlenk was aggressive in dumping Howard, who undoubtedly qualified as a bad contract. Howard had signed just last summer and had two years remaining at $23 million per, but was benched in fourth quarters during the Hawks’ first-round playoff loss this spring. He was already outdated, a big man relic with no offensive polish who clashed with Mike Budenholzer, the Hawks’ coach and then-GM who gave Howard that contract.

 

 

In order to rid the club of Howard, the Hawks had to take back a bad contract in Miles Plumlee and filler. It was essentially cutting your losses ASAP. And while Budenholzer sang the praises of Millsap last season and was strongly in favor of retaining him when the playoffs began, Schlenk nixed that idea, too, because of Millsap’s age (32) and asking price (he eventually agreed to a three years deal with the Denver Nuggets).

Schlenk also didn’t think long about refusing to match the Knicks’ shocking four-year, $71 million offer to restricted free agent Tim Hardaway Jr., another Budenholzer favorite.

So the obvious question: Are Budenholzer and Schlenk on the same page?

Coach Mike Budenholzer led the Hawks to a 43-39 finish last season.

“Bud’s been great,” Schlenk said. “Building a relationship with Bud was very important to me. Once we started talking about the roster and where we are, Bud was completely in board with the plan and is excited about the challenge to get us back up and contend for a championship in a few years.”

Keeping Hardaway would’ve gone against Schlenk’s plan to avoid poisonous contracts, while Millsap didn’t represent a youth movement. The goal is to allow others to fill those roles so the Hawks can see what they have. Bazemore, another Bud signing from last summer ($17 million per) who struggled last season, will get extended minutes and chances should he earn them, and the Hawks will shovel the same opportunities to Taurean Prince and De’Andre Bembry.

There’s great anticipation about John Collins, the 19-year-old rookie power forward from Wake Forest, who’s making a huge impression in summer league. Collins brings a great feel around the basket, attacks the boards and looks the part, although his shooting needs work. He could command significant minutes.

 

Hawks' rookie John Collins has made a big splash in Summer League play.

“Obviously we were thrilled he was still there at No. 19, and one of the things that jumped out at us is that, right after our press conference when there was a practice, is how hard he went through the drills,” Schlenk said. “He just has a great work ethic and a desire to be good.”

Schlenk doled out only manageable contracts this summer, to Mike Muscala (two years, $10 million) and Dewayne Dedmon (two years, $14 million). Schlenk knows how suffocating bulky contracts can be, and places a high value on financial flexibility. He wants to stay responsible and avoid the trap of “bidding against yourself” in the open market.

He was groomed by the Warriors’ organization and, after initially wanting to coach, was steered toward management by Jerry West, who eventually sold the Hawks on Schlenk when owner Tony Ressler wanted a new voice in a front-office shakeup. He had a voice in the Warriors’ building process; they built their two-time championship winner with high picks (Steph Curry), middle picks (Klay Thompson) and low picks (Draymond Green) before garnishing the club with trades (Andre Iguodala) and free agents (Kevin Durant).

“We want to develop the young players we have and we’ll potentially have five first-round picks in the next few years of the draft,” Schlenk said. “You really want to have three ways to get talent in this league: draft, trades and free agents. We’re going to use all three but it’s certainly easiest to get star players through the draft. It’s hard to trade for them and sign them. There’s all kind of ways to get a star. Maybe we look to package a few of those picks to move up.”

Meanwhile, the side effect from hitting the reset button is long and tough nights, something the Hawks haven’t felt since 2013-14, the last time they had a losing season.

“We want to continue the success we’ve had, but realize we might have to take a step back,” Schlenk said. “We just don’t want to dip down 2-3 years in a row. We realize that young players in this league take their lumps but we don’t want to send the message that we’re (fine) with losing.”

Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting. 

 

[Buzzard]

I like the article and at least he is not saying this is a five year plan. Every new GM wants five years to show growth; to me that is their way of saying no matter what happens, I want to keep my job for the full five years.

If you suck after three, you should be fired. That is plenty of time to prove yourself competent IMO.

Edited July 13, 2017 by Buzzard

[Alex]

Guy is still lying through his teeth about not tanking.  Amazing people continue to slurp down his phony message.

[JTB]

Now this is a good plan. He really got more detailed though he was saying the same thing...it's kinda like hey I'm not tanking on purpose but I'm not about to sign free agents close to 30 years of age or are 30+ years old who aren't star talent just to get to the playoffs and lose. 

But I will put a young team out there full of early and mid 20 year olds who fits Buds scheme and if they make the playoffs great cause that means their taking huge leaps in their development while being young! .....at least that's how I take his comments.

 

[deester11]

1 hour ago, Alex said:

Guy is still lying through his teeth about not tanking.  Amazing people continue to slurp down his phony message.

 

The man is not propping fans up on the dream of a playoff team next year and  it is refreshing.  I don't really care what the lying part is, as a basketball fan of this team I am on board  with changing the scope of this team.  Had to be done.  I'll continue to support this until it shows otherwise.

[EazyRoc]

1 hour ago, Alex said:

Guy is still lying through his teeth about not tanking.  Amazing people continue to slurp down his phony message.

How exactly is this tanking ? I get people are upset that we aren't a lock for the playoffs anymore, but literally every move he's made falls in line with EXACTLY what he's saying.

[JTB]

12 minutes ago, EazyRoc said:

How exactly is this tanking ? I get people are upset that we aren't a lock for the playoffs anymore, but literally every move he's made falls in line with EXACTLY what he's saying.

Agreed....now that he has actually made some signings and will probably make one more decent signing it doesn't look like a tank job but rather looking for young talent that can possibly be kept long term and fit in Buds scheme.

i have no problem with this cause he's already stated we are going to lose on purpose and we KNOW bud isn't going to lose on purpose. So I'm starting not to be as worried.

[Hawwwwwwwwwwwwwwks]

yeah, gotta support schlenk so far. Going back to the playoffs with that same roster is pointless and now we have a young talented team along with quality veterens on good contracts, and were flexible as hell in the next upcoming years too. Gotta give the man his props so far.

[KB21]

1 hour ago, EazyRoc said:

How exactly is this tanking ? I get people are upset that we aren't a lock for the playoffs anymore, but literally every move he's made falls in line with EXACTLY what he's saying.

Two reasons:

1.  He has put together a roster where the top 10 guys on the roster have a combined projected 6.4 WARP going into the 2017-2018 season.

2.  Building around youth = losing.

[DBac]

This isn't really a Philly style tank. Philly style would've been moving everybody (Dennis in particular) and trying to find your centerpiece at #1. 

Regardless we're gonna lose a lotttt of games. 

Edited July 14, 2017 by DBac

[Lurker]

32 minutes ago, DBac said:

This isn't really a Philly style tank. Philly style would've been moving everybody (Dennis in particular) and trying to find your centerpiece at #1.

Exactly what I've been trying to harp on. And...exactly why I've said it's too early to conclude for real on what's going on.

Ask me in April 2018 and I'll tell you. I'm not sugarcoating this, but there are differences between full on tanking and rebuilding. If nothing significant happens, I won't be posi, I'd say 25-30 wins is most likely.

A reminder, if guys are being sat for no reason or sat for longer than necessary with injuries, that's full on tanking.

[enrique]

1 hour ago, KB21 said:

Two reasons:

1.  He has put together a roster where the top 10 guys on the roster have a combined projected 6.4 WARP going into the 2017-2018 season.

2.  Building around youth = losing.

While I agree with the dismal projections of the 2017-2018 season, I prefer that to maxing out our cap space for the next 3 years with THJ, Millsap, and Howard.

Letting the Knicks throw money at THJ like a drunk lottery winner at a strip club is not a tank job. Preferring to give our past few draft classes more playing time while keeping 30 million off the cap annually is still not tanking...It is saying that the future could not be built with last year's core. That run is over. We'd have all been better off had we made that decision before the trade deadline last year, but then again that is why Schlenk is here now in the front office and not Bud. 

I think we will see a young, hungry, scrappy team that (IF some players take steps forward) will be a surprising team in the abysmal East. Unfortunately after watching the Summer League I am petrified at Prince's apparent steps backward as a player. I only hope I am wrong about Prince. He certainly was fun to watch last season and gave me hope for the future.

 

[DBac]

Shouldn't worry about Prince yet. In the regular season/playoffs he turned defense into offense and got his when he could. In this summer league run he's been trying to push himself and become more of a creator on offense than a 3nD role player.

[enrique]

Just now, DBac said:

Shouldn't worry about Prince yet. In the regular season/playoffs he turned defense into offense and got his when he could. In this summer league run he's been trying to push himself and become more of a creator on offense than a 3nD role player.

Ah, the voice of reason;) I prefer your version of Prince's summer league displays. Thanks!!!

[EazyRoc]

7 hours ago, KB21 said:

Two reasons:

1.  He has put together a roster where the top 10 guys on the roster have a combined projected 6.4 WARP going into the 2017-2018 season.

2.  Building around youth = losing.

No argument against what you're saying but the poster said Schlenk was lying about his plan. He is avoiding bad contracts and remaining flexible. Everything he's done has been consistent with what he said.

[Diesel]

11 hours ago, Buzzard said:

I like the article and at least he is not saying this is a five year plan. Every new GM wants five years to show growth; to me that is their way of saying no matter what happens, I want to keep my job for the full five years.

If you suck after three, you should be fired. That is plenty of time to prove yourself competent IMO.

Nope.   I don't think that firing a GM after 3 years is smart.   In three years, he might be saddled with the wrong coach.  IN three years, he may be missing draft picks.  In 3 yrs, he may have nothing but young players.  Ferry spoiled you guys.  Ferry stepped into a situation where he had a playoff team with good assets and draft picks and he was able to make something of them.   Schlenk will take a bit longer.

[Diesel]

10 hours ago, JTB said:

Now this is a good plan. He really got more detailed though he was saying the same thing...it's kinda like hey I'm not tanking on purpose but I'm not about to sign free agents close to 30 years of age or are 30+ years old who aren't star talent just to get to the playoffs and lose. 

But I will put a young team out there full of early and mid 20 year olds who fits Buds scheme and if they make the playoffs great cause that means their taking huge leaps in their development while being young! .....at least that's how I take his comments.

 

It's tanking no matter how well he states it.   He can call it not picking up bad contracts.  He can call it player development.  He can call it focusing on future stars... it all equates to one thing.. we're tanking for higher draft picks.  It's the Billy Knight build through the draft plan.

 

[hazer]

9 minutes ago, Diesel said:

It's tanking no matter how well he states it.   He can call it not picking up bad contracts.  He can call it player development.  He can call it focusing on future stars... it all equates to one thing.. we're tanking...

"You keep using that word": http://www.livememe.com/mds82td

Edited July 14, 2017 by hazer

[hazer]

10 minutes ago, Diesel said:

It's tanking no matter how well he states it.   He can call it not picking up bad contracts.  He can call it player development.  He can call it focusing on future stars... it all equates to one thing.. we're tanking for higher draft picks.  It's the Billy Knight build through the draft plan.

 

It's not "tanking" until he trades away Dennis and Bembry and Printz for picks and scraps shooting for the bottom. Period.

[ATLBob]

12 hours ago, Wurider05 said:

Schlenk refuses to embrace the idea of tanking and cringes at the thought of enduring a string of bad seasons, but he’s not naive, either: The task of revamping the Hawks could come at a cost.

Right now, there’s no All-Stars or even a single player with a solid track record of success. Three of their top four scorers from last season are gone, and also their top four rebounders. The meat of the roster is rich with players in their mid-20s or younger who have yet to gain much, if any, traction in the league.

I'm tired of arguing about semantics: tanking, rebuilding, retooling, spray-painting your old crap gold before the neighborhood garage sale ... call it what you want.

The point is: this is it, so buckle up. This is the definition of fielding a team that has very little chance of winning but allows younger players to get playing time and hopefully develop.

Schlenk is not arguing that the next two year won't be painful. They will. He just wants to show enough progress to be winning more by year three, and to that end I would expect to see him start to add some higher-quality (and more expensive to pay or acquire) vets by that point.

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But that’s the plan: Develop the young players on hand, add a few more to the mix through the Draft, keep the payroll as lean as possible and collect enough assets to trade or keep. Once a new nucleus is built, the Hawks can then fortify the roster with a free-agent signing.

If only it were that simple and easy.

 

This line says it all, and very succinctly captures the apprehension of quite a few posters on this board. We know it isn't. Yes, it can work, but that doesn't mean that it will. So much can go wrong.

Meanwhile, so much has to go much better than average in order for it to work.

9 hours ago, JTB said:

Agreed....now that he has actually made some signings and will probably make one more decent signing it doesn't look like a tank job but rather looking for young talent that can possibly be kept long term and fit in Buds scheme.

It looks exactly how it's always looked imo. Moose, Dedmon, & Ilya all have contracts that pretty much indicate they are not part of the plan, and while they'll make the product more palatable, I'm not sure any of those signings will equate to more wins. 

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he's already stated we are going to lose on purpose and we KNOW bud isn't going to lose on purpose. So I'm starting not to be as worried.

Exactly. Schlenk is building a roster that is designed to be young and cheap and that has very little chance to win as a direct result.

I'm absolutely sure that he'll tell Bud to "Go win as many as you can."

If you give me a pitching wedge though, I'm not driving the ball 300 yards no matter how hard I try.

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i have no problem with this

Actually, I'm fine with it too.

I'm not going to enjoy the process much as a fan (unless the top pick next season looks like a bonafide difference-maker), but I'll still watch ... some (a youngun and the 5am alarm clock are bigger roadblocks than the roster).

I just wish this process could have been jump-started with better assets 1.5 years ago.