Acknowledging that the Hawks don’t currently have a “franchise guy” on their roster, general manager Travis Schlenk said today during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio that the Hawks hope to find a player of that caliber in the draft (hat tip to Amico Hoops). As Schlenk explained, the draft looks like a more reliable source of impact talent for the Hawks than free agency or the trade market.
“It’s hard to get those [franchise players] in trades, obviously,” Schlenk said. “We’re in a climate today in the NBA where superstar players, when they decide they want to be traded, they can really control quite a bit where they’re going to go.
“Also, obviously in free agency, it’s tough to get those guys,” Schlenk continued. “Free agents want to go to a place where they can team up with someone else to try to win a championship. Unfortunately right now, that’s not where we are as an organization, so for us, the best way to get that cornerstone franchise guy is in the draft.”
Schlenk’s comments are hardly groundbreaking, given the moves he made in his first offseason as the team’s GM, not to mention the Hawks’ place in the standings. Atlanta currently has a 6-20 record, tied for the worst mark in the NBA, putting the franchise in an excellent position to nab a top-five pick in the 2018 draft.
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Still, Schlenk’s focus on the draft is worth noting, since it was just earlier this year that the Hawks reportedly made a strong push to trade for Paul George. The team struck out on George at last season’s deadline and Schlenk – who was part of a Warriors front office that drafted Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green – took over as Atlanta’s head of basketball operations a few months later.
Atlanta’s offer for PG13 was said to feature several first-round picks, but Schlenk’s approach to the rebuilding process suggests that he has no plans to dip into the team’s stockpile of 2018 and 2019 picks in a trade for a star. Instead, he and the Hawks’ front office is likely doing its homework on a group of top 2018 prospects that includes Luka Doncic, Marvin Bagley III, and DeAndre Ayton, among others.