The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Hawks GM setting fast pace in Atlanta
New GM meets twice with Budenholzer, officially starts June 1.
On the same day Golden State begins play in the NBA Finals, former Warriors exec Travis Schlenk takes over the Hawks.
Travis Schlenk will get an early start at his new job.
On the same day the Golden State Warriors begin play in the NBA Finals, the organization’s third consecutive trip to the championship series, Schlenk will take over the Hawks.
The Hawks announced the hire of Schlenk as the team’s general manager and head of basketball operations Thursday. After Schlenk spent the past 12 seasons with the Warriors, including the past five as assistant general manager, he will begin his new duties June 1. The Warriors host the winner of the Boston Celtics-Cleveland Cavaliers series in Game 1 on the same day.
Although the start date for the Hawks’ new general manager and head of basketball operations is six days away, Schlenk arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday. A day ahead of the official announcement of his hire, Schlenk had dinner with head coach Mike Budenholzer. The two met again Thursday morning and have already started to go over the roster and the number of important decisions the franchise has to make this summer.
Schlenk resigned from the Warriors, where he was assistant general manager under president of basketball operations and gen-
eral manager Bob Myers, on Wednesday. He spent Thursday doing paperwork and meeting members of the Hawks basketball operations staff after the cross-country trip.
Schlenk assisted Myers in the day-to-day operations of the basketball team. He was also the team’s director of player personnel for two years after five seasons as an assistant coach and video scout. As part of his 16-year NBA career, Schlenk also worked for the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. He spent one season as director of basketball operations at UGA.
Schlenk spoke with Bay Area radio station 95.7 FM The Game on Thursday about his decision to take the position with the Hawks.
“It certainly was not an easy decision to leave Golden State and everything we’ve got going on there,” Schlenk told the station. “But if I was going to leave, it starts with ownership. You know, as in Golden State, when you get a committed ownership group it makes everything else easier. After meeting this ownership group and spending time with them on the phone and in person, I feel real confident and comfortable with these guys and their desire to do what it takes to make the Hawks a competitive team for years to come.
“They’ve dumped a lot of money here. They are putting $200 million into the arena here. They’ve got a new state-of-the-art practice facility that is going to open up this fall. That’s really what made me take a long, hard look at his job and ultimately decide to come on here is the ownership group.”
The Hawks will conduct an introductory news conference June 2.
“After meeting with Travis, our search committee and I knew that he was the right choice to become the new general manager and head of basketball operations for the Atlanta Hawks,” Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler said in a statement. “In addition to his significant experience with two organizations that have built championship cultures, he is ready to lead our basketball operations at a critical time for making big decisions as we prepare for the 2017-2018 season and beyond.
“We conducted a very thorough search process and believe Travis shares our vision for the team and the ability to implement it as we continue working hard to reach our commitment to bring a championship to Atlanta.”
Schlenk said in the radio interview he would return to Oakland this weekend before returning to begin work in earnest. Player decisions loom, including a big one with unrestricted free agent Paul Millsap. The NBA draft is June 22, and the Hawks hold three picks. He said he plans to talk to player agents. The Hawks have six other unrestricted free agents, and Tim Hardaway Jr. is a restricted free agent.
“I’m real fortunate coming into this situation,” Schlenk said. “Normally when you come to a new team you are talking about teams that are not good. This is a franchise that has been in the playoffs 10 straight years. Three years ago they were in the Eastern Conference finals. We’ve got a good coach in place. That is a big relief for me coming in as a new general manager.”
“Coach Bud and I spent a couple hours again this morning. I just want to get his thoughts on the roster, what style he wants to play, what pieces he wants to add. Then later on this afternoon, I’ll spend a lot of time with the front office. They’ve got a good group of guys here. I’ve never worked with any of them. It would be foolish of me to come in here and clean house Day 1 when they’ve had the kind of success they’ve had over the years. I’ve got to get to know those guys.”
Schlenk comes from the highly successful Warriors organization. Golden State is 207-39 (.841) in the regular season the past three years, the best three-year run in NBA history.
The Warriors drafted twotime NBA MVP Stephen Curry, two-time All-NBA selection Klay Thompson, two-time All-Defensive firstteam pick Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes (now with the Mavericks). They also acquired 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala via trade and signed 2014 MVP Kevin Durant.