Schlenk on the job
New GM wants Millsap to stay
ATLANTA — Travis Schlenk knows what it takes to win an NBA championship. He’s also a realist.
Just more than a week after he was hired as general manager and head of basketball operations by the Atlanta Hawks, Schlenk was formally introduced by his new team Friday at Philips Arena. The issues he faces range from re-signing free agent Paul Millsap to figuring out a role for Dwight Howard.
Hawks owner Tony Ressler gushed over Schlenk’s qualifications to meet such challenges, saying he clearly stood out among the eight to 10 candidates interviewed by the team. Schlenk spent a dozen years with Golden State, helping build a team that won the title in 2015 and is playing in its third straight NBA Finals. He worked his way up to director of player personnel and spent the past five years as the top assistant to general manager Bob Myers.
Now Schlenk has a team of his own.
“The breadth of experience that Travis had — having every job in basketball operations, understanding what everyone does in basketball operations, having that championship pedigree, having the type of mentors and colleagues that Travis has had — he separated himself in our discussions,” Ressler said.
While taking over a team that has made 10 straight playoff appearances, Schlenk also must cope with some major personnel concerns and a sense that this is a team in decline after a franchise-record 60-win regular-season in 201415, when the Hawks were a No. 1 seed and reached the Eastern Conference finals.
This season, Atlanta went 43-39, then was knocked out in the opening round of the playoffs.
Schlenk said one of his top priorities is bringing back Millsap, a four-time All-Star who has opted out of the final year of his contract.
But perhaps the most pressing issue is how to handle Howard, who still has two more years on his contract. Once one
“I certainly plan to sit down. I don’t judge people on what I hear. I judge people when I have a chance to sit down and talk to them. But he’s one of the most productive big guys in the league, so he’s important to us.” — TRAVIS SCHLENK ON DWIGHT HOWARD
of the league’s most dominating players, the 6-foot-11 center endured a disappointing debut season with the Hawks and looked totally out of place by the playoffs.
Struggling to adapt to coach Mike Budenholzer’s motion offense, the Atlanta native averaged just eight points per game against the Washington Wizards — and didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter of the series-deciding loss.
Schlenk wants to find a way to make it work. He has yet to speak with Howard in person, but the two have exchanged text messages.
“I certainly plan to sit down,” Schlenk said. “I don’t judge people on what I hear. I judge people when I have a chance to sit down and talk to them. But he’s one of the most productive big guys in the league, so he’s important to us.”
Schlenk is also stepping into what could be an uncomfortable situation, claiming authority over player personnel decisions that had been held by Budenholzer.
After a series of questionable moves, which included the signing of Howard to a three-year, $70.5 million deal and making a four-year, $70 million commitment to former D-League player Kent Bazemore (who lost his starting job late in the season), Ressler stripped Budenholzer of his title as president of basketball operations and demoted general manager Wes Wilcox — who was essentially Budenholzer’s top lieutenant — to an adviser’s role.
Budenholzer did not attend the news conference, but the team was quick to point out that wasn’t a sign of discontent, saying the coach was attending his son’s high school graduation.
While conceding he didn’t know Budenholzer all that well before being hired by the Hawks, Schlenk said the two met extensively this week to begin ironing out their roles and expectations of one another.
“I have no reason to believe that there’ll be any issues with coach and I,” Schlenk said. “I’m here to help him. It’s a partnership. We’re in this together. I can’t be successful in my job in he’s not successful in his job. I think we’re going to have a very strong working relationship.”
While noting it took seven years to build a championship team at Golden State, Schlenk said the Hawks have many of the elements needed to reach that goal, including a committed owner, a new practice facility and the ongoing $190 million renovation of Philips Arena, as well as long-term plans to develop the blighted area around the venue.
“We want to build a championship-quality team that’s sustainable,” he said. “We want to be in the conversation every year as a franchise than can compete for a championship.”