Schlenk busy rebuilding Hawks
Reunion with former Warriors assistant GM has to wait because he’s on the road scouting
ATLANTA » Themoment calls for a dinner at a five-star restaurant, where Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk can reconnect with his former colleagues with the Warriors.
He spent 13 years in the Warriors’ front office, including the last six as an assistant GM. So with the Warriors (48-14) in town to play the Hawks (19- 43) on Friday, a reunion so that he can toast his former employer seems natural.
That meeting will not take place, though. Schlenk is in New York to scout the Big Ten tournament.
“We got three first-round draft picks,” Schlenk said with a chuckle. “We got work to do.”
Warriors general manager Bob Myers will also be scouting the Big Ten tournament, so the two friends and former colleagues will be in the same place at the same time. That does not mean they have time to reconnect.
“Our get-together will consist of a hot dog in-between games. That’s about as in---
timate as we get,” Myers said, laughing. “At this time of year, there’s no time for the lengthy dinners and glasses of wine. It’s a hot dog and Diet Coke in-between games.”
Such a dynamic captures two things.
It partly explains why the Warriors hold Schlenk in high esteem for his work ethic, detailed player evaluations and unrelenting honesty.
“We’re a good complement to each other. His strengths helped me overcome some of my weaknesses,” Myers said. “He was very and is very diligent and informed in his thoughts. I respected and I appreciated that.”
It also shows that Schlenk remains determined to rebuild the Hawks with the same methodical approach that helped turn the Warriors into two-time NBA champions.
“The draft obviously gives you the best chance to get a franchise- changing talent,” Schlenk said. “But there’s luck involved in it as well. There has to be that talent in the draft when you’re down there. Golden State, we obviously built a foundation of that team through the draft.”
The Hawks have plenty of work before building a foundation as sturdy as the Warriors’. So, Schlenk wasted little time in working swiftly in his new role.
Though the Hawks had appeared in the NBA playoffs for 10 consecutive years, Schlenk became wary of Atlanta’s aging roster. So three weeks after getting hired, Schlenk traded disgruntled center Dwight Howard and the No. 31 overall pick to the Charlotte Hornets for center Miles Plumlee, shooting guard Marco Belinelli and the 41st pick. The Hawks also allowed former All-Star Paul Millsap to sign with the Denver Nuggets. The Hawks did not put up a fight in retaining Tim Hardaway Jr. after the Knicks offered him a four-year, $71 million deal.
“It felt like the group of Hawks that were here, their best days were behind them,” Schlenk said. “There was kind of a slow and gradual decline each year. The question that had to be asked is, ‘Do we go out and try to add a piece to the group of guys to get us back on the upswing? Or do we hit the reset button?’ ”
Choosing the latter option maximizes the Hawks’ odds in the NBA draft lottery, frees up cap space for free agency and gives young players opportunities to accelerate their development.
What potentially could have made a project even more complicated: Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer once had a role in Atlanta’s front office. Last year, the Hawks removed Budenholzer’s front- office duties and reassigned Wes Wilcox from general manager to a special advisor to ownership.
“We spent a lot of time together talking. Obviously any personnel decision we make here, he’s going to have a big voice in it,” Schlenk said of Budenholzer. “A lot of conversations the first month I was here, we kind of came to the conclusion that the path we’re on right now is the best path for the organization long term, and understanding in the short term that it might be a bumpy road.”
Schlenk has worked in several capacities in the NBA, as an Orlando Magic intern, a Miami Heat video coordinator as well as multiple roles with the Warriors as an assistant coach, video scout and director of team personnel. Schlenk grew into those roles under a supportive Warriors front office that started with Larry Riley and then evolved with Myers and consultant Jerry West. When Joe Lacob was part of ownership group that bought the Warriors in 2010, he kept Schlenk.
“I was extremely fortunate to have a lot thrown on my plate early,” Schlenk said. “I was able to learn a lot. It was kind of either sink or swim. I figured it out so I didn’t sink. I was real fortunate.”
With the Magic, Schlenk was able to sit in on meetings when the front office evaluated prospects and trades. Then, he learned the value of speaking his mind.
“You’re not doing the organization any favors when you’re not giving your opinion,” Schlenk said. “That doesn’t mean your opinion is always going to be right. The draft is hard and you’re going to miss on guys. When asked of your opinion by the GM as a scout, you need to give them your honest opinion. That doesn’t mean you have to be disrespectful by any stretch. But you give them your opinion.”
How did that play out with the Warriors?
“I don’t want to get into those (discussions),” Schlenk said, laughing. “Let’s just put it this way. We didn’t always agree on every decision. But once the decisions were made, they were our decisions.”
Still, Schlenk had a role when the Warriors determined Stephen Curry (seventh in 2009) and Klay Thompson (11th in 2011) had strong shooting potential. Before the Warriors selected Draymond Green (35th in 2012), Schlenk noted that Green blocked six consecutive shots on perimeter players during his pre- draft workout. That provided a window on Green’s defensive intensity and positional versatility.
“He was a hard guy to please when you’re evaluating as far as what he likes in a player. But we agreed on a lot of things,” Myers said. “We agreed on almost everything. We came at it from different angles and settled at it from the same place.”
Since then, Myers likes how his former colleague has adjusted to his new role.
“He went into it with the right attitude and obviously made some moves immediately. I wasn’t surprised,” Myers said. “One of the traits of his that I admired is his decisiveness and conviction. I think he’s got a plan and he’s executing it. I have no doubt he’ll get things going in the right direction.”
• Even with his 30th birthday two weeks away, Warriors star Stephen Curry is still a kid at heart. And kids do the darndest things.
Like Curry practicing his golf swing Thursday while inside his Atlanta hotel room, and finding out the hard way a glass table and golf clubs don’t mix.
Curry posted a picture of the shattered glass on Instagram, noting, “when you feel like you’re on the @pgatour so you gotta get some swings going in the hotel room #idiot”, along with three laughing emojis.