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As expected, the Atlanta Hawks are in rebuilding mode under new general manager Travis Schlenk, and the GM himself doesn’t expect that to suddenly change.

“If we’re going to be honest with ourselves, we don’t have that franchise guy,” Schlenk told Sirius XM NBA Radio on Tuesday.

“We’re in a climate in today’s NBA that superstar players can really control where they want to go,” Schlenk said. “So it’s tough to get those guys in free agency. They 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 kind of guy is the draft, and that’s kind of the path we’ve decided to go,” Schlenk said.

On the bright side, the 2018 draft is expected to be littered with talent — from Arizona center DeAndre Ayton to Duke power forward Marvin Bagley to Slovenian swingman Luka Doncic to many others.

Travis Schlenk paints frank picture of current roster, rebuilding focus

Travis Schlenk joined SiriusXM NBA Radio on Tuesday and he made some enlightening comments.

"We've seen a lot of growth in Dennis's game this year,” Schlenk said when prompted on starting point guard Dennis Schröder as the team’s current centerpiece. “Hopefully, there's more growth in it. Right now, I think, if we're going to be honest with ourselves right now, we don't have that franchise guy. That's the guy we're looking for.”

Of course, it is not a surprise (or a revelation) from Schlenk to indicate that Atlanta does not currently have a cornerstone talent and that was likely part of the decision to rebuild.

While it would certainly speed up the rebuilding timeline if the Hawks were able to acquire a top-tier piece that is more established than a (very) young rookie through the draft, Schlenk’s comments are realistic through the prism of how difficult that might be.

John Collins has exceeded any rational expectation in year one, Taurean Prince looks the part as a potential long-term starter and, despite his flaws, there is talent and offensive production from Schröder.

With that said, the Hawks absolutely must acquire at least one top-tier talent in order to facilitate this rebuild to a positive conclusion and the 2018 draft class, featuring Luka Doncic, DeAndre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III and others, might be the best chance for the organization to do just that.

Stay Tuned.

graymule wrote:No free agent super star player will voluntarily come here.
Many, many professional sports players love to live in Atlanta. They just don't want to be on any
team here.

Jamaaliver wrote:

graymule wrote:No free agent super star player will voluntarily come here.
Many, many professional sports players love to live in Atlanta. They just don't want to be on any
team here.

This was the flaw of the Danny Ferry era. He (Ferry) knows more about basketball than I could ever know.

But we know the Hawks. And we know attempting to lure top players to join a bad/mediocre Atlanta team was a short sighted approach.

kg01 wrote:Interviewed by Jared Greenberg on NBARadio. He's a kg-brand synopsis ...

- One thing he's stunned at having to do now that he's GM ... Putting labels on bottles of wine for staff for holiday party. *mild chuckle*

hawkmanreturns wrote:

Jamaaliver wrote:

graymule wrote:No free agent super star player will voluntarily come here.
Many, many professional sports players love to live in Atlanta. They just don't want to be on any
team here.

This was the flaw of the Danny Ferry era. He (Ferry) knows more about basketball than I could ever know.

But we know the Hawks. And we know attempting to lure top players to join a bad/mediocre Atlanta team was a short sighted approach.

I agree with this 100%. As much as some may hate this rebuild, this is really the only option we have left. We never attracted big time free agents and we were too in love with our "core" to make any meaningful trades. We were stuck. I'm glad Schlenk gets it. He not only understood that this team was stuck on the treadmill but he also had the guts to blow it up.

DarthTater wrote:Hate to tell you this, but we're stuck on the crappy treadmill now.

Former team is good w/o Steph, maybe they'll get you him ... *chuckle* Said he told Steph we'll be available to him in free agency, not sure why that didn't work to a visit for Atlanta. *chuckle*

macd-gm wrote:

Former team is good w/o Steph, maybe they'll get you him ... *chuckle* Said he told Steph we'll be available to him in free agency, not sure why that didn't work to a visit for Atlanta. *chuckle*

Hmm. Isn't this the type of statement that has gotten us, and others, in trouble in the past?

MaceCase wrote:

macd-gm wrote:

Former team is good w/o Steph, maybe they'll get you him ... *chuckle* Said he told Steph we'll be available to him in free agency, not sure why that didn't work to a visit for Atlanta. *chuckle*

Hmm. Isn't this the type of statement that has gotten us, and others, in trouble in the past?

I believe the semantics of it is that he was in contact with Steph while he was a free agent. Tampering could only occur if Steph was still under contract but then you'd have to prove that he made those comments beforehand.

As to Schlenk's comments, file them underneath "no duh". You're not blowing up a team that has superstar X in their prime on it.

How Hawks GM Travis Schlenk is trying to build franchise in Golden State’s image

Schlenk remains determined to rebuild the Hawks with the same methodical approach that helped turn the Warriors into a championship contender.

“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’.

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.

“We just have to make good decisions,” Schlenk said. “We’ll be on the way toward laying the foundation of hopefully what will be a quick turnaround for us.”

Jamaaliver wrote:“We’ll be on the way toward laying the foundation of hopefully what will be a quick turnaround for us.”

D21 wrote:If he wants a quick turnaround, better maximize your chances of getting the Top pick. I don't see the point to be the worst team for 60 games and then letting 6 teams have more chances to get the Top pick.