Landry Fields, GM and Kyle Korver, AGM Interview - HawkVision

[AUhawksfan]

They're saying all the right things, which is what you want in a GM.  I don't think it's all "doom and gloom" but I also wonder if they're focusing on building an identity and culture because they know they can control that better than personnel decisions.

If Landry, Kyle, and the Resslers are aligned then maybe all will be well but all it takes is a disagreement and Tony/Nick coming in to insert their power to make something happen or not happen and we're still in the same spot.  You figure they're going to disagree on something at some point so we'll see how that plays out.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 hour ago, sturt said:

Not to upset the overall point made, but not sure this is possible. I believe the implication is that Schlenk wanted to trade Sap, but Sap became a UFA the summer that Travis took the job.

And the previous understanding had been that it was Bud who had so went to the mat, strongly protesting any thought to deal Sap that previous February, if I'm recalling correctly. Not sure if that's been substantiated since then, but the impression had been left that it was Bud's attitude toward dealing Sap (and Ressler's acquiescing to that at the time) that chiefly led Ressler to the conclusion to move Bud out of his Grand PuBah status.

Correct me if I'm wrong about any of that, of course.

All Tony Ressler,  but right about it being Bud :

But the owner also dismissed any suggestion that Budenholzer is the final decision-maker.

“I make the final decision,” he said.

“If you think Bud makes a final decision on everything that we do, you don’t understand the way the Atlanta Hawks are run. … The president of basketball operations is what I say it is, not what you say it is. (Budenholzer) has the loudest voice, not the final word. There’s a dramatic difference.”

 

Other things we learned.

• Ressler was directly involved in the negotiations with Horford and admits that he might do things differently if he had the opportunity.
• That the front office was divided on the decision not to trade Paul Millsap at the deadline, but that he killed the notion entirely when it reached his desk

 

[ABH]

35 minutes ago, AUhawksfan said:

They're saying all the right things, which is what you want in a GM.  I don't think it's all "doom and gloom" but I also wonder if they're focusing on building an identity and culture because they know they can control that better than personnel decisions.

If Landry, Kyle, and the Resslers are aligned then maybe all will be well but all it takes is a disagreement and Tony/Nick coming in to insert their power to make something happen or not happen and we're still in the same spot.  You figure they're going to disagree on something at some point so we'll see how that plays out.

They gotta say the right things

[Gray Mule]

20 minutes ago, ABH said:

They gotta say the right things

It's nice to know that they know this!

[AHF]

7 hours ago, Sothron said:

It also came out finally that trading Kevin was literally about nothing other than getting under the LT this year. It was not a basketball move or a move to make the team better now or in the future. Just to save Tony, whose a multi billionaire I have to add, from paying the luxury tax. 

That was obvious on day 1 to me so not much of a revelation.  (Only qualifier I'd add is it was to avoid paying the tax and allow the team to collect from tax paying teams.  Those go hand-in-hand and both sides are a big deal.)

[MarylandHawk]

8 hours ago, Sothron said:

Something else that came out in these recent articles: Tony Ressler has BLOCKED TRADES that Travis had agreed to make. They admit it twice that he stopped a Paul Millsap trade years ago. Tony blocked a John Collins trade last year. He also blocked a third trade. I couldn't get the name of the player because he's still a current Hawk and he could be moved in another trade.

So that's three trades that Tony Ressler has literally BLOCKED his own front office from making. It also came out finally that trading Kevin was literally about nothing other than getting under the LT this year. It was not a basketball move or a move to make the team better now or in the future. Just to save Tony, whose a multi billionaire I have to add, from paying the luxury tax. 

Where did this come out?

[JeffS17]

2 minutes ago, MarylandHawk said:

Where did this come out?

Schultz's Atheltic article.  I can post if people are interested, but that was the most damning piece of evidence for me.  They specifically mention he blocked JC to a western conference team trade.  It could be the JC for Lauri and 2 1sts that was floated here, which I thought was asinine it was even on the table -- so needless to say, I don't have much faith in the FO if Ressler is going to continue to heavy hand roster decisions.

[Phunkabilly]

I realize you should take GM speak with a grain of salt, but I thought it was an interesting read nonetheless.  Landry and Kyle stressed multiple times that they are looking to turn the Hawks into a players-friendly culture with an emphasis on personal development and accountability, which I think aligns with their desire to flood the front office with former players.  I think they're trying to set up a culture that will particularly appeal to today's young generation of players.

I think this also provides a clue as to the type of coach that they're looking for.  As someone else mentioned, I think it was intentional that they used the term "he's the best coach for us right now" when talking about Nate.  An old-school coach definitely doesn't seem like the right fit for the culture that they're trying to build up.  But as I was reading through the article, all I could think of is that Kenny Atkinson is the type of guy that they're looking for.  His bread and butter is player development and holding players accountable for their own personal development.  I'm sure Kyle's improvement while playing with Atkinson is going to be a big feather in Kenny's cap as well.  I think he's definitely my early favorite to get the job next season.

[macdaddy]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

All Tony Ressler,  but right about it being Bud :

But the owner also dismissed any suggestion that Budenholzer is the final decision-maker.

“I make the final decision,” he said.

“If you think Bud makes a final decision on everything that we do, you don’t understand the way the Atlanta Hawks are run. … The president of basketball operations is what I say it is, not what you say it is. (Budenholzer) has the loudest voice, not the final word. There’s a dramatic difference.”

 

Other things we learned.

• Ressler was directly involved in the negotiations with Horford and admits that he might do things differently if he had the opportunity.
• That the front office was divided on the decision not to trade Paul Millsap at the deadline, but that he killed the notion entirely when it reached his desk

 

Yeah this was very concerning at the time.  Tony obviously meddled and shouldn't have but also publicly undermined Bud.   I thought he learned his lesson from this debacle and gave Travis total control but now we're seeing that he actually doesn't trust anyone to run the franchise so has inserted his son to do his bidding.   

Landry and KK are going to shine this turd up because if Tony/Nick hadn't given them these jobs then Landry would be an assistant or more likely still a scout and KK would be a behind the bench shooting coach.  These are enormous opportunities and resume builders for these guys who have jumped the line on countless others.  Doesn't mean they will be bad but it's pretty wild. 

[JayBirdHawk]

4 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Yeah this was very concerning at the time.  Tony obviously meddled and shouldn't have but also publicly undermined Bud.   I thought he learned his lesson from this debacle and gave Travis total control but now we're seeing that he actually doesn't trust anyone to run the franchise so has inserted his son to do his bidding.   

Landry and KK are going to shine this turd up because if Tony/Nick hadn't given them these jobs then Landry would be an assistant or more likely still a scout and KK would be a behind the bench shooting coach.  These are enormous opportunities and resume builders for these guys who have jumped the line on countless others.  Doesn't mean they will be bad but it's pretty wild. 

ALL true.

Hire good Basketball people and let them do their jobs.

[Diesel]

It was definitely interesting.   It was like a Sturt Post.  Long as Hell.   So Long, I had to go and take a nap.  But when I woke up, I thought about the overarching theme...   Relationships. 

Relationships is the atmosphere with this front office.

It makes sense because LF was hired because of his relations with Nick at the pick up game. 

Nick hired all of his boys and gave them FO positions. 

The Fields/Korver meeting at the soccer game is about relationships and passions.

Hell, if LF wants passion, he should have met me somewhere.  Sheez... I have passion for the Hawks.   My kid played soccer. 

Put me in as Chief Scout so that I can work my way up to GM.

Nawl... that's a young man's game. 

Anyway, I think about the coach.   Unless Nate takes us to the Chip.. he's probably going to be moved next season for somebody more relational...

D'Antoni is my guess. 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

21 minutes ago, Diesel said:

It was definitely interesting.   It was like a Sturt Post.  Long as Hell.   So Long, I had to go and take a nap.  But when I woke up, I thought about the overarching theme...   Relationships. 

Relationships is the atmosphere with this front office.

It makes sense because LF was hired because of his relations with Nick at the pick up game. 

Nick hired all of his boys and gave them FO positions. 

The Fields/Korver meeting at the soccer game is about relationships and passions.

Hell, if LF wants passion, he should have met me somewhere.  Sheez... I have passion for the Hawks.   My kid played soccer. 

Put me in as Chief Scout so that I can work my way up to GM.

Nawl... that's a young man's game. 

Anyway, I think about the coach.   Unless Nate takes us to the Chip.. he's probably going to be moved next season for somebody more relational...

D'Antoni is my guess. 

 

Seems like meeting Landy at chance meetings is the way to go. 

[MarylandHawk]

48 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Schultz's Atheltic article.  I can post if people are interested, but that was the most damning piece of evidence for me.  They specifically mention he blocked JC to a western conference team trade.  It could be the JC for Lauri and 2 1sts that was floated here, which I thought was asinine it was even on the table -- so needless to say, I don't have much faith in the FO if Ressler is going to continue to heavy hand roster decisions.

Wow I hope not, If I was Schlenk, I would step aside because of that alone. I doubt that Danny Ainge would ever do that though. He is notorious for over valuing his assets. 

50 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Schultz's Atheltic article.  I can post if people are interested, but that was the most damning piece of evidence for me.  They specifically mention he blocked JC to a western conference team trade.  It could be the JC for Lauri and 2 1sts that was floated here, which I thought was asinine it was even on the table -- so needless to say, I don't have much faith in the FO if Ressler is going to continue to heavy hand roster decisions.

Would love to see the article. 

[Diesel]

[Atlantaholic]

9 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Like I have been saying the past few days, the people who remain are clearly in alignment with each other.

Doesn’t make them right or wrong, but it is a clear sign that we are not being led by some King Joffrey wannabe.

Travis had a good 5 year run. He promoted Landry to run the team and by all accounts that is exactly what is happening. 

Nothing too significant to take away from their interview, but I did enjoy the part about establishing a Hawks culture. An identity of what it is to be a Hawk.

That will probably go over many heads but I am liking that mentality. All the great organizations have an identity. Identity transcends an individual player. It’s a culture.

We will finally move away from the Spurs East, Warriors East, Pistons South, etc….nonsense. Stop trying to be like the new trend and be like ourselves. Be the best version of ourselves, which is exactly what Kyle said regarding player development.

I can’t predict if this will work out, but I believe it is the correct foundation for creating a championship mentality within an organization.

They can say all of the right things, interview me and I know enough to say the right things too. At the end of the day they will be judged on results. Hopefully they have enough of Tony/NIck's trust that they are at least allowed to make the moves they want to make and they get a fair shot. 

[AUhawksfan]

1 hour ago, Diesel said:

 

Hell, if LF wants passion, he should have met me somewhere.  Sheez...

 

Sure you don’t want to reword this?  Diesel over here getting ready. 

[JeffS17]

@MarylandHawk

Schultz: Hawks’ problems start at the top with owner Tony Ressler

ATLANTA — Sports has shown us there are several ways to win. A team can win with great players and an average coach, or even average players with a great coach. It can win with a general manager who excels at squeezing the last breath out of every nickel, or one who is green-lighted by his owner to spend money freely, or one whose drafting and player development system is so good that there’s no need to do a swan dive into the deep end of the free agent pool.

But there’s one thing a sports franchise can’t overcome: flawed ownership. So let’s start there with the Hawks. Let’s start at the top with Tony Ressler, because this franchise’s spiral effectively starts and ends with him.

Ressler is a heavily invested owner (that’s good) whose fan-like, hyper-emotional ups and downs have impacted the team in a negative way (bad). He has helped turn a once-rising franchise into a dysfunctional mess, experiencing the same painful learning curve that Falcons owner Arthur Blank did. Blank was driven to succeed but he so lacked objectivity early and often that he enabled Michael Vick and spoke of “lifetime” contracts for Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, effectively undercutting his front office.

A lot has been written over the past several months, and certainly in recent days, about the Hawks’ dramatic fizzle from a team that reached the 2021 conference finals and was viewed as a blueprint for building the right way to one that sits in only ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings. There may be a glimmer of hope. The Hawks led the Heat by 26 points in the first half, let that lead almost predictably shrink to four in the final quarter, but held on for a 121-113 win Monday.

They’re back to .500 (22-22) for the first time in three weeks. They’ve won three straight for the first time since early November. But small sample size. Hold off on declarations, especially against the backdrop of so much turmoil.

Many have taken punches for the fall since the 2021 playoffs: Trae Young, who has the talent but at times seems to lack the maturity and leadership skills for someone of his status; coach Nate McMillan, who has had his share of frustrations with Young and likely is coaching for his job the rest of the season; former general manager and team president Travis Schlenk, who in late December was suddenly moved to the obscure role of “senior advisor,” which is generally what teams do when they don’t want to just fire someone for reasons of appearances, especially with so much time left on someone’s contract; Nick Ressler, an otherwise obscure employee in the organization except for the rather important fact that he was the owner’s son and had become an increasingly prominent voice over the last two years.

About Nick Ressler: The Hawks are going to great lengths to try to smother the narrative that the 27-year-old with no basketball experience has exerted major influence over decision-making. He’s just a “voice in the room,” they say. (Just a voice. OK. And right now I’m imagining a job interview with someone in human resources saying, “Hey, I see your last name is Ressler! Are you any relation? Because that might help you!”)

But let’s put young Nick aside because this is more about his father.

Tony Ressler is emotionally and economically invested in his team, which is what any fan should want. He and wife Jami Gertz drive more social causes than any other Atlanta sports executive. He also orchestrated the renovation of State Farm Arena (albeit with public money) and the construction of a needed practice facility. But Ressler has acknowledged his lack of patience and blind spots in the past, calling himself “the schmuck in the room” for mistakes that included the promotion of former coach Mike Budenholzer to team president.

It seemed he had learned.

Maybe he hasn’t.

Many viewed the Hawks’ run to the Eastern Conference finals two years as a bit of an aberration. The Hawks were an ascending franchise but not really at that level, yet. But Ressler saw it as an accurate barometer of where the team was. He became increasingly involved in basketball ops, as is his right. But when elevated expectations weren’t met last season, he mandated changes. Schlenk became the “big picture” guy. Landry Fields was elevated to general manager, in charge of the day-to-day. Ressler began listening to the wrong voices, including his own, and involved himself in basketball transactions. He rejected a trade that would have sent forward John Collins to a Western Conference team because he didn’t want to break up the core, a league source said.

All in the front office agreed that the Hawks needed a second scoring option with Young. But as The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported in his thorough analysis about the Hawks’ front office dysfunction, Schlenk wasn’t comfortable trading three first-round picks to the Spurs for Dejounte Murray, even though he liked Murray as a player.

Truth is, anybody who had followed Schlenk in his career knew that kind of trade did not align with his philosophy. But others in the front office disagreed. Fields rejected any notion that the Hawks were mortgaging the future, telling The Athletic, “You have to take some risks. What’s the famous Jimmy Johnson quote: ‘You can’t play with scared money’? If I were to go back I would do that trade 10 times out of 10.”

The owner agreed. He effectively made the decision. Murray has generally played well but Fields acknowledges the chemistry between he and Young isn’t there, yet. There’s a question whether it ever will be. The trade also effectively forced Atlanta to deal valuable guard Kevin Huerter in a salary dump to avoid paying a luxury tax penalty.

The Young-Murray pairing may eventually work out. But that’s not today’s view. Even Hawks CEO Steve Koonin called Amick’s story “fair,” in a radio interview on 92.9 FM.

Today’s view is one of a cap-bloated team that is short three first-round picks and sits only ninth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Today’s view includes an inexperienced front office and a frustrated head coach trying to put a team back on the rails.

Today’s view is one of a team scrambling just to make the playoffs, effectively putting Fields in a position of weakness in trade talks.

Things were working so much better when just basketball people were making the decisions.

Ressler declined an interview request by The Athletic.

He released a statement that referenced only Fields and new assistant general manager Kyle Korver:  “I am extremely supportive of Landry and Kyle’s leadership and vision for our basketball operations. They are committed to building a highly communicative, player-friendly and innovative front office that makes collaborative decisions. I believe in them and will make sure they have the resources they need to make us a winner.”

That all sounds great. But if the rest of the season goes south, don’t be shocked if Ressler pushes reset again and tries to hire a new president of basketball ops, along with firing McMillan. It seems to be in his DNA.

The Hawks’ front office is now led by an odd mix: Fields is 34 years old. Korver was a highly respected player but is new to management. There’s also a cap guy who’s a friend of Nick Ressler and a pro scout who worked for a Bay Area media outlet who’s a friend of Fields. Meanwhile, three respected members of Schlenk’s personnel staff were fired.

Fields understands why people might look sideways at the new front office.

“Even from my seat, I understand there’s not a ton of experience,” he told The Athletic. “I was born in 1988 — I can’t help that. But I take full ownership of our group. Just because somebody has all those years of NBA experience doesn’t necessarily make them wise. I’m not knocking experience. I understand there are certain things you just don’t know and to have people around who do know those things will be very helpful. We still have people on board who have a lot of experience.”

He referenced media focus on the Hawks’ problems as “distractions,” adding, “I think we’re still in good shape, but this is just part of our story this year that we’re going to have to work through. But I get it. There was a transition midseason and that’s always going to prompt questions and stories.”

Fields addressed the team after Schlenk stepped down, telling players and staff his expectations. He said if anybody had a problem with that, he would try to accommodate them with a trade.

“Some people don’t want to be a part of change and transition, and I want to honor them in that process,” he said.

Fields maintains no player (or agent) has asked to be traded, but that shouldn’t be taken as a sign that the Hawks will be quiet at the trade deadline. The Hawks have been trending downward for two years and this won’t be an easy fix. At some point, Ressler must learn that even a billionaire who excels at running a private equity firm is a novice when it comes to running a sports franchise.

[swanlee]

Well at least they are being open and up front about all this instead of trying to scuttle rumors etc. Also if the main beef was getting DJ or not I'm on Landry's side that he was a huge need and I hope we keep him long term. If TS was really that dead set against getting DJ then I'm kind of not in agreement with him on this and am willing to give this new Front office a shot to see how things go.

[JayBirdHawk]

7 minutes ago, swanlee said:

Well at least they are being open and up front about all this instead of trying to scuttle rumors etc. Also if the main beef was getting DJ or not I'm on Landry's side that he was a huge need and I hope we keep him long term. If TS was really that dead set against getting DJ then I'm kind of not in agreement with him on this and am willing to give this new Front office a shot to see how things go.

I think it was more so the cost.  Similar to the ASG kerfuffle with the cost of trading for Joe Johnson at the time.

[macdaddy]

I mean it's all speculation but even though i love JC, Lauri plus 2 firsts would have been a haul.  Probably could have used that deal to enable us to stay under the tax and keep Kev. Could have sent Bogi out possibly with a pick.  I know JC is a better defender but this would have been a pretty great team and foundation 

Trae/Murray/Hunter/Lauri/Cap + AJ/Kev/JJ/OO.