The Atlanta Hawks were widely expected to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference this season after they made it all the way to the Conference Finals in the 2020-21 season. They made very few moves this offseason, instead focusing on the players do have by handing a new deal to John Collins while extending Clint Capela.
However, with 36 games of the season already played, the Hawks have fallen well below expectations. Having struggled to a 16-20 record, they sit outside the play-in spots in the Eastern Conference as the 12th seed. This has come despite incredible scoring performances from their superstar point guard Trae Young.
After their latest loss to a severely weakened Portland Trail Blazers team, General Manager Travis Schlenk vented his frustrations with the team during a conversation on Atlanta Radio Station 92.9 The Game (via Brad Rowland on Twitter). During the conversation, the GM hinted at the fact that the team might look to make some moves.
Full quote (two different answers) from Travis Schlenk on @929TheGame this morning amid the team's struggles.
Link here: https://t.co/vqkGpavnEP pic.twitter.com/Y83Wcw4fQY
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) January 4, 2022
“It’s a hard pill to swallow when your team’s not playing as well as you think it should. Maybe I need to lower my expectations for this team. Ultimately, all of this falls on my shoulders. I put this group together, and they’re not responding. So we need to take a deep look into this for sure.”
“We’re seeing the same thing every game. Again, last night we had the lead going into the fourth quarter. Then we can’t keep it. I sound like a broken record here, but it’s the same thing ever game. Again, ultimately this all falls on me. So we have to see if this group is the group that we saw last year during the second half of the season or if it’s the group we’re seeing this year. And that’s what we have to determine and we have to make adjustments.”
Atlanta’s poor performances have them in danger of not even making the playoffs if current form continues although it is worth noting that they have been severely impacted by COVID-19 protocols. They certainly have the assets to make moves in the trade market if they wish to, with young players like De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish likely to be in-demand commodities.
