Is the internal crisis pointing the tip of its nose or are these changes necessary? The Athletic teaches us that among Hawks, a lot is happening internally, while the sporting results are not up to expectations. It starts with the arrival, in mid-December, of Landry Fields in place of General Managerto the liking of Travis Schlenk. Occupying the place since 2018, the former member of Warriors arrived in 2017 to kick off the Hawks’ rebuild. It is in particular he who had draft John Collins or Trae Young. Following Fields’s promotion, Schlenk was reduced to an advisory role. Recently, the franchise’s former player, Kyle Korverwas offered the position of assistant General Manager and join the Front Office des Hawks.
These moves are all the more surprising given that Schlenk was extended last year and seemed to be an important part of Atlanta’s management for many years to come. And according to the journalist Sam Amickthis change of path is not foreign to the influence of Nick Ressler, son of the franchise owner. So the former General Manager is authorized to leave the franchise for another.
What appears to have been the beginning of the breaking point was the trade set up to acquire Dejounte Murray. Travis Schlenk had expressed some doubts regarding the counterpart to change (first three rounds of draft, a possibility of swap for the Spurs as well as Gallinari). Nick Ressler and Landry Fields were on the other hand in favor of the exchange, which was therefore effective.
All these internal turmoil have indirect consequences for the athlete: the results are disappointing, Nate McMillan would have hesitated to resign, several players concerned by transfer rumours… this is not an environment conducive to the success of a franchise. Murray’s contribution is real defensively. Atlanta is currently 13th when looking at the defensive rating. Where the Hawks were among the five worst defenses last year. However, offensively it is more catastrophic. Second best offense last year, the franchise is now in the bottom third of the league. This is due to several factors: integrating a player who likes to have the ball like Murray, Trae Young in difficulty with his shot, although in his statistical standards, and John Collins who has his worst season in career if we look at the stats offensive. The latter is regularly cited among the players who might be traded by the franchise.
While the mid-season milestone has passed, there is not much time left for Atlanta to launch a good dynamic. Before facing a complicated summer to manage in the event of poor results, mainly in the Playoffs.