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Jeff Schultz wrote:Tony Ressler putting on pressure for Hawks to take a leap

Ressler is similar to Falcons owner Arthur Blank in that he is invested, emotionally as well as financially. That also means his employees can seldom relax.

I asked Schlenk how often Ressler phones or texts him.

“You mean today?” he responded.

In general, during this period.

“Several times a day,” he said. “That’s really one of the fortunate things we have is an owner who’s really passionate about. This is a big week. He wants us to be one of the model organizations in the NBA. He stays on me. He doesn’t give me much rest.”

Schlenk hasn’t been shy about moves. He will forever be second-guessed about the Young-Luka Doncic draft-day trade....the ultimate grading of the trade may be: Who wins a title first?

That’s up to basketball ops. They need veterans. They need certainty and stability. They ranked last in the NBA in 3-point shooting (33.3 percent) and defense (119.7 points per game allowed). No need to wade deep into analytics to wonder why they went 20-47.

Schlenk didn’t issue any guarantees but said of a relative playoff mandate: “We won’t run from that.”

The Athletic

We need Trae to try and work some magic as well. He needs to be our biggest recruiter.

^I'm actually really conflicted on this. On the one hand, I want us to compete and start our trek towards finally being a relevant contender in this league.

On the other hand, another year of slow growth could allow our young guys to get more exposure and (at worst) ending up in the lottery in the deepest drafts in years.

As long as whatever is done to improve this year doesn't compromise the long-term or ceiling; I'm all for it.

Have to let the young team mature

Yup, grow and add key vets. We were never gonna win it in 2021, let’s play the long game. We built it right let’s not F this thing up.

Chris Kirchner wrote:I’ve been told by numerous people inside the organization that the plan general manager Travis Schlenk laid out at the beginning of his tenure has been followed almost perfectly without straying from his plan. That plan has been approved by Ressler, and they are in tandem in keeping on that path. Ressler knows the process to get a championship roster doesn’t happen overnight.

So, it’s a balance of striking at the right time rather than rushing and trading for someone who may not be the best fit.

Ressler...doesn’t want to be a franchise that thinks getting to the playoffs consistently is successful; he wants a title badly. The way to do that is one or two of Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish or Kevin Huerter reaching superstar level or packaging some of those names for a star. Schlenk is keeping his options open when it comes to star hunting.

The Athletic

I have no idea who Tony Jones is.

But if true, this is very concerning.

Tony Jones: My sources tell me that the Hawks owner was really disappointed by this season. And that, you know, there’s some some pressure on Travis Schlenk to win next year.

15 hours ago –

Spotify

Jamaaliver wrote:I have no idea who Tony Jones is.

He's the Utah version of Chris Kirschner.

It's been widely reported for over a year that Ressler is putting pressure on the Hawks management. The same has been said about Trae & his team, FWIW.

While we're on the subject (kinda) --- it's incredibly frustrating to me that local reporting on the Hawks is so weak. I hate having to wait on national reporters or other NBA teams' beatwriters. If I lived in Atlanta...

raleigh wrote:

Jamaaliver wrote:I have no idea who Tony Jones is.

He's the Utah version of Chris Kirschner.

It's been widely reported for over a year that Ressler is putting pressure on the Hawks management. The same has been said about Trae & his team, FWIW.

I'm aware that Trae was getting impatient in the rebuilding process, but 18 months ago Kirschner reported Ressler was onboard with building a contender slowly and consistently. I imagine that the premature visit to the EC Finals plus the ascension of Luka Doncic has caused Ownership to push for competing sooner than later and kept Travis on a shorter leash than he would normally have.

Chris Kirchner wrote:I’ve been told by numerous people inside the organization that the plan general manager Travis Schlenk laid out at the beginning of his tenure has been followed almost perfectly without straying from his plan. That plan has been approved by Ressler, and they are in tandem in keeping on that path. Ressler knows the process to get a championship roster doesn’t happen overnight.

So, it’s a balance of striking at the right time rather than rushing and trading for someone who may not be the best fit.

The Athletic -- January 2021

Why shouldn't this Hawk team be under pressure to win now? It's been a while. We've been to the bottom.
We've overcome and have made the playoffs. Then, we fought tooth and nail to regain that lofty height last season.

Travis drafted two last summer. Nate refused to play either of them. Who was right? If I am part of ownership
I'd be pressing for results. Why isn't it our time now? What is holding this team back? Fix it!

We're too good for high lottery picks. We're over the cap now.

Trades and lucky development of players is the only way forward. So far we struck out huge on Cam Reddish and didn't hit any home runs with other picks.

Only real upside players left are Hunter and OO.

saloonyk8 wrote:Only real upside players left are Hunter and OO.

I don't even consider DH as high upside. He never really was (considering the redshirt year) coming out of UVA. Plus, the injury issues have been consistent enough over the years that I think it's time to call it a spade.

I do think, by contrast, that Jalen still has untapped potential. Not sure he'll get there, but you can talk yourself into optimism.

Jamaaliver wrote:Kirschner reported Ressler was onboard with building a contender slowly and consistently

I know you to be more discerning than this...

The Kirschner articles came out not long after the rumors emerged from national sources and Pierce made his fated comments about making the playoffs. And, even then, Ressler doesn't come across as particularly patient:

"But let’s face it: We need continued growth out of our younger players."

And then there's this prophetic comment:

“The objective is not, emphatically, to be the eighth seed in the playoffs and pound our chest and say, ‘Mission accomplished,’” Ressler said.

Hawks' management had a plan, but it didn't work. There's now nothing holding back Ressler's impatience.

Since Trae is now locked into his max, I think the pressure has organically presented itself. Team still doesn't have its wing defender. Secondary ballhandler still missing after all these years, last but not least the 2nd star hasn't shown himself.

CP War Hawks wrote:Since Trae is now locked into his max, I think the pressure has organically presented itself. Team still doesn't have its wing defender. Secondary ballhandler still missing after all these years, last but not least the 2nd star hasn't shown himself.

But did you see a 2nd star in DAL? Yet, they made the WCF this season, like ATL made it one year ago.
As soon as Capela and Collins were injured, and Bogi later, this first round was already a lost battle

raleigh wrote:

“The objective is not, emphatically, to be the eighth seed in the playoffs and pound our chest and say, ‘Mission accomplished,’” Ressler said.

Hawks' management had a plan, but it didn't work. There's now nothing holding back Ressler's impatience.

If they were 8th playing at their best, it would be different, but they got lots of missed games, and Nate didn't coach well.
With a bit less injuries, this same team should have been 5th or 6th at worst, and would not have play MIA or BOS in the first round.

And without injuries in the playoffs, who knows what they would have do... So I consider the injuries one the top things to fix.
Two seasons full of injuries is enough, if it only comes from players, trade them, but you have to be sure, and I'm not at all based just on how they brought back Hunter one year ago (thanks because he helped Vs NYK, but got a bigger injury and at the beginning of the season.
How many of our players got surgery last summer? At least 3 if I'm not wrong. They rushed them at the beginning of the season and I was thinking they shouldn't because it would lead to other injuries later.

Actually, injuries is the first thing to fix, because even if they played, but not at 100%, we loose on defense.

Last year, it was special, because they were less injured in playoffs than in the season, and with all these missed games, maybe they were fresher than other teams. But this year, Clint+John+Bogi injured, you can't win.

Trae: 81 - 60 - 63 - 76 games played
John: 74 - 61 - 41 - 63 - 54
Clint: 63 - 74
Bogi: 44 - 63
Kevin: 75 - 56 - 69 - 74
De'Andre: 63 - 23 - 53

You simply can't win a championship when you have so many injuries, unless the other teams have same or more injuries

D21 wrote:

CP War Hawks wrote:Since Trae is now locked into his max, I think the pressure has organically presented itself. Team still doesn't have its wing defender. Secondary ballhandler still missing after all these years, last but not least the 2nd star hasn't shown himself.

But did you see a 2nd star in DAL? Yet, they made the WCF this season, like ATL made it one year ago.
As soon as Capela and Collins were injured, and Bogi later, this first round was already a lost battle

raleigh wrote:

“The objective is not, emphatically, to be the eighth seed in the playoffs and pound our chest and say, ‘Mission accomplished,’” Ressler said.

Hawks' management had a plan, but it didn't work. There's now nothing holding back Ressler's impatience.

If they were 8th playing at their best, it would be different, but they got lots of missed games, and Nate didn't coach well.
With a bit less injuries, this same team should have been 5th or 6th at worst, and would not have play MIA or BOS in the first round.

And without injuries in the playoffs, who knows what they would have do... So I consider the injuries one the top things to fix.
Two seasons full of injuries is enough, if it only comes from players, trade them, but you have to be sure, and I'm not at all based just on how they brought back Hunter one year ago (thanks because he helped Vs NYK, but got a bigger injury and at the beginning of the season.
How many of our players got surgery last summer? At least 3 if I'm not wrong. They rushed them at the beginning of the season and I was thinking they shouldn't because it would lead to other injuries later.

Actually, injuries is the first thing to fix, because even if they played, but not at 100%, we loose on defense.

Last year, it was special, because they were less injured in playoffs than in the season, and with all these missed games, maybe they were fresher than other teams. But this year, Clint+John+Bogi injured, you can't win.

Trae: 81 - 60 - 63 - 76 games played
John: 74 - 61 - 41 - 63 - 54
Clint: 63 - 74
Bogi: 44 - 63
Kevin: 75 - 56 - 69 - 74
De'Andre: 63 - 23 - 53

You simply can't win a championship when you have so many injuries, unless the other teams have same or more injuries

Brunson is the 2nd star, not the biggest one but technically he can be termed. Just like the Hawks, it's unlikely Dallas returns unless big moves are made for them.

Pressure is good. This season feels wasted because we didn't improve at all. I feel like we regressed and never attempted to improve the team. I don't view our team as a true championship caliber unit or believe we use our frontcourt properly. I'm ready for some serious changes.

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Didn't want to waste a whole new thread for this recent quote from Huerter. So here's a recycled thread on the same topic.

Kevin Huerter details key behind Atlanta Hawks’ ‘downfall’

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While it came as a bit of a surprise, Huerter knows where things went wrong for that [2021 Hawks] group.

“That was almost like the start of our downfall, was the run that we went on,” Huerter told J.J. Redick and Tommy Alter on ‘The Old Man & the Three’ on May 17. “We won before we were expected to win, or before we should have won let’s call it…That just put a fast forward on our timeline, and I don’t think our team as a whole was fully at that point.”

The Hawks have gone 84-80 since then, twice getting bounced out of the playoffs in the first round after just five games.

They dismissed Nate McMillan who took over and guided that run after 59 games this year.

“The expectations for that team just went through the roof the next year because we made a Conference Finals. And it was Conference Finals or Finals-or-Bust. And, maybe as a unit that wasn’t where we were yet.”

“I would say that team skipped a step, and we overachieved for that year, and we went on a great run. But, ultimately, two years later, all these expectations that have happened [and] everyone thought, ‘Alright, we gotta make a lot of changes because now we’re failing as a team’. When in reality we might not have consistently built to that point anyway. And I think we were getting that, we were building. It just never came to fruition.”

Hawks SB Nation