Appearing on 92.9 The Game in Atlanta, Hawks president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk said, unprompted, that the front office is committed this offseason to making roster changes in an attempt to improve the team after standing relatively pat a year ago.
“We made the decision last year to kind of run the same group back and we probably should’ve tried to upgrade as opposed to stay status quo,” Schlenk said. “This year, the way the season ended and played out, we’re certainly going to try to upgrade the roster moving forward into next season.”
Asked specifically about how much turnover the Hawks’ roster could experience, Schlenk suggested the club won’t be looking to re-sign all of its free agents.
“We have some guys that are free agents, we have some guys that have contract situations. We’ve got a guy eligible for a contract extension,” Schlenk said. “All that stuff plays into it. Every year, the only thing that’s really consistent in this league is change, so we anticipate that there will be some change, certainly with some of our free agents as we look to upgrade our roster.”
Delon Wright, Lou Williams, Gorgui Dieng, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Kevin Knox, and Skylar Mays will be free agents this offseason, while Danilo Gallinari has a small partial guarantee on his salary for 2022/23 and De’Andre Hunter will be eligible for a rookie scale extension.
Here’s more on the Hawks:
- Schlenk said during his appearance on 92.9 The Game that the Hawks’ defense was a “big letdown” in 2021/22 and will be an area the club looks to address in the offseason. Schlenk added that having another reliable secondary ball-handler and shot creator to relieve the pressure on Trae Young will be a priority.
- The Hawks announced in a press release that they’ve brought in 12 prospects this week, hosting six for a group workout on Monday and another half-dozen on Wednesday. Justin Bean (Utah State), Darius Days (LSU), Michael Devoe (Georgia Tech), Gaige Prim (Missouri State), Will Richardson (Oregon), and Cole Swider (Syracuse) were in earlier this week, while Keve Aluma (Virginia Tech), Garrison Brooks (Mississippi State), Jamal Cain (Oakland), Keon Ellis (Alabama), Allen Flanigan (Auburn), and Jaden Shackelford (Alabama) were part of today’s pre-draft workout.
- Chris Kirschner of The Athletic examines 10 offseason questions facing the Hawks, including whether team owner Tony Ressler is willing to go into luxury-tax territory, whether the team can attract a second star, and what level of pressure head coach Nate McMillan is under.
Delon Wright is the only free agent they’ll bring back.
Danilo Gallinari will be waived (only 5M of his 20M guaranteed), but could be re-signed at a more affordable rate (5-8M).
Any other changes, we’re talking about Collins/Capela trades.
Delon Wright surprised me… I thought he didn’t care very much. Maybe he doesn’t, but got inspired by modern “notorious defenders”. (I think there’s a trend here, inspired by recent rookies like Mikal, Herbert, Mobley, more)(I have not seen confirmation of this from espn, etc. so I could be wrong)
Delon Wright has always been a beast
The issue for the Hawks is all of the guys who saw their values inflate last postseason with their impressive run (Collins, Hunter, Huerter, Bogdan…) will see those same values deflate as rotation pieces on an underwhelming team.
Thankfully none of them have terrible contracts, but the 3 for 1 hypothetical trade that seemed like a no brainer 9 months ago now seems a little more dubious.
Trae is the centerpiece here regardless and rightfully so, but a historically poor postseason performance probably won’t be making Schlenk sleep better at night this summer.
Historically poor postseason performance? Lol relax my boy
Gibby Haynes would hate this guy.
Orien, my guy. You’re trying extremely hard, and I appreciate it. I’m still proud of you. Send my regards to the family.
I’m not your guy, bro. And I never try hard.
Don’t worry so much.
I seldom agree with Sankara but I’d hardly call being the 8 seed and losing to the 1 seed “historically poor”.
His individual performance was though. 31 turnovers to 30 assists for the series. 31 percent from the floor. 18 from 3.
For a star player in a playoff series? It was Hardenesque.
Wasn’t historically poor though, bro unless you have data to back that up. You gotta try to address the points made and not just deflect. No one is gonna think less of you.
Deflect? He cited stats. You haven’t.
I’m sure there have been worse performances by star players, but you’re not going to find too many of them who both shot horribly from the field and failed as playmakers while having the ball in their hands as much as Trae did. Nitpicking doesn’t change the facts.
He’ll likely never be anywhere near this bad again, but it doesn’t change what happened.
Per StatMuse, Trae’s playoff performance is the first time in the 3 point era (1980 on) that a player has had fewer than 25 field goals and more than 30 turnovers.
I would say that qualifies as historically bad?
Having said that, I still think Trae can and probably will bounce back. But it’s probably a concern internally right now.
Citing a player’s playoff stats in response to someone saying he didn’t have a historically poor playoffs is “deflecting”?
Not even you’re that dumb.
Eh … maybe you are.
Either way, do me just one favor—spend less time researching ButtholeSurfer deep cuts and, instead, spend some time at this website “basketball-reference.com”, it’ll be more relevant to the content my posts, I promise.
Dude, are you really this easy?
Or am I just really good…
What’s your favorite song on Independent Worm Saloon anyway? I am partial to Chewin George Lucas Chocolate myself.
We all get it man. You’re definitely the coolest one here. You don’t “try hard”.
And most of all when you make a point that turns out to be asinine you rescind into the same defensive posture of “not caring.”
Just my $.02: Kind of a weird flex for a HoopsRumors.com message board. But whatever makes you feel better about yourself I support.
Like I’ve always said, I’m proud of you pal.
Is this your first time on the Internet? You seem to be taking things much too seriously.
You’re fighting a battle that only exists in your mind.
Is this the first time you’ve encountered someone disingenuous before?
Didn’t they make it to the eastern conference finals just the year before??
I saw Young almost give up vs Miami, and for good reason: He was not any help. But he slew the Knicks last year.
Young’s NYC performance would be the red flag for using the term “historically”. But there are two different ways to read that adverb… One, accounting for all past instances, and Two, using only one instance and comparing it to a norm.
B69 was correct due to using a pronoun that made the latter the case, which fits. But it takes close reading to tell that. Using “Historically” is risky though popular lately in sports media.
Some people misuse words ending in “ly” and college experience seems to make it worse. They encourage adverb use on campus but only as an intensifier— all the adverbs, even though they have different meanings, i.e., “Literally”.
Should of traded for CJ ……
I am sure they will make offer for Mitchell
Pels got CJ cheap. Hawks missed out. He definitely takes the pressure off Trae. And he’s a closer. Hawks have a nice pick this yr. And still can make a solid trade for a seasoned vet. Mitchell is not leaving Jazz anytime soon.
Hawks should look to bring back Dennis Schroder. He was solid coming off the bench for them. I’d also look into Jerami Grant. Another solid defender and gives you some buckets. Dont give up to much but maybe they like Kevin Hueter and bits.
Sounds crazy but 3 team idea, Jazz look like blowing things up, Spida is good mates with John Collins who is from Utah. Gobert can go to the Knicks link up with countryman Evan Fouriner and replace Mitchell Robinson who is set to hit FA. Julius Randle seems on the outer with the Knicks he ends up in Atlanta. Throw
Some other bits and pieces in there to make everyone happy. Such as Hawks get a first from the Knicks, Knicks maybe swap Noel for Gay.
Whatever else but that’s a good start and makes some sense.
Hawks …
– 3 team deal as above
(Collins for Randle and a first)
-Waive Gallo, sign Schroder
– Trade Hueter and Okungwu for Grant and Olynyk.
-Draft in Jaden Hardy and Ej Liddell
Line up
1. Trae. Schroder. Cooper
2. Bogi. Hardy
3. Hunter. Johnson.
4. Randle. Grant. Liddell
5. Capela. Olynyk. Deing
Fill out the roster in FA
I like the u grade defensively with Grant and Schroder. Randle gives you another ball handler who can create for others aswell as get buckets. Great depth, lots of versatility and help for Trae.
ATL needs a HC, McMillan just isn’t up to task, with him they will never do anything much!
Man I’d def love to see Mike DeVoe take Skylar Mays spot if we don’t resign Mays. Mike is extra crafty. Could be a Luke Kennard/Dragic type guy in a few yrs… overall Hawks in extremely good position tho. We still got the best roster in franchise history with a good opportunity to upgrade even further this summer.. Team defense gotta get way better & waiving Gallo will help. I personally think that Jalen Johnson is ready & will eventually beat out whatever vet forward we bring in to replace Gallo. But guys like Kyle Anderson, Robert Covington, Thad Young, Taurean Prince gonna be available & using a chunk of the MLE to add any of those guys would definitely upgrade the defense… I’m starting to think that it’s gonna be Bogdan, not Huerter that gets traded. He’s gonna be playing with his good buddy Nikola Jokic this summer at EuroBasket. I’m sure Trae will be talking to his good buddy/former teammate Michael Porter Jr alot this summer too. A bff reunion trade based around Bogdan & Dre Hunter going to Denver for MPJ & Bones Hyland could be smart for both teams.. Bogdan to Portland for Josh Hart would be even better tbh… if they don’t trade the mid 1st pick we have I’d love to see em grab MarJon Beauchamp if he’s still there. Love that kids game & he could be 1 of those rookies that makes an immediate impact
I’d take the 09-10 Hawks over this group. At least until consolidate and some guys get a little more development.