Atlanta Hawks, GM Travis Schlenk Agree to Multi-Year Contract Extension

A quick primer on the news surrounding the Atlanta Hawks and their General Manager Travis Schlenk.

After three years on the job, the Atlanta Hawks and General Manager Travis Schlenk have agreed to a multi-year contract extension per Zach Klein of WSB-TV in Atlanta:

Though some NBA fans might not quite agree with Schlenk’s proactive approach and tendency to telegraph his moves in the NBA Draft, there can be no doubt that the transactions that have taken place under Schlenk’s watchful gaze have completely transformed the Hawks from an also-ran low-level playoff team throughout much of Mike Budenholzer’s tenure as head coach to an up-and-coming young team with some of the best young players in the NBA.

Of course, most non-Hawks fans will pillory Atlanta for re-upping with a GM that passed on Luka Doncic in favor of Trae Young, but that move might actually work out quite well for the Hawks in the future.

Anyone who’s actually watched the team knows that Young deserved to be in the Rookie of the Year conversation – and, in fact, the two players should’ve received Co-Rookie of the Year honors at season’s end – but I digress.

While Schlenk has sometimes been a tad bit obvious about who he wants in the NBA Draft – everyone knew Atlanta wanted Trae Young (who turned out to be the best rookie in franchise history) and Cam Reddish, for example – there can be no doubt that the man has strong opinions and, so far, his hunches have been correct.

He has also been brilliant at accruing value later on in the first round of the draft by taking John Collins and Kevin Huerter in consecutive drafts at #19 overall.

Schlenk has also pulled off a variety of salary-dumping deals that have allowed the Atlanta Hawks to accrue a slew of draft picks that should come in handy going forward.

All of the talk surrounding the Atlanta Hawks when they passed on Luka Doncic was as follows: “This is the kind of move that gets a GM fired.”

Apparently, it’s also the kind of move that gets you re-signed.

Stay tuned for plenty more coverage of the Atlanta Hawks as we get closer to the start of the preseason in October. We’ve got it all for you on Soaring Down South.