Travis Schlenk – The Real MVP of Atlanta Hawks Basketball

In appreciation of Atlanta Hawks’ GM, Travis Schlenk.

On May 25, 2017, Travis Schlenk was hired to become the general manager of the Atlanta Hawks.  He began that quest officially on June 1, 2017, with a single mandate from the Atlanta Hawks newest franchise owners –

Turn this champion-Ship around!

Travis’s brood; A native of Selden, Kansas, Schlenk and his wife, Sarah, have two daughters, Morgan and Charlotte, and a son, Will. –

The Atlanta Hawks GM – Travis Schlenk is, making good on the owner’s mandate, as he is pulverizing his way through three drafts, and the current 2020 NBA Free Agent pool.

How happy are you to be an Atlanta Hawks fan, right now? Are you ready for some Hawks playoff basketball, and putting an end to – a lifetime of waiting for a championship contender?

The Atlanta Hawks’s “roster-in-progress” has fifteen formidable players teed up for a return to the playoffs, this season. Couple that, with a resurgence of power teams from the Eastern Conference?  And, the Hawks are sure to be in a quagmire of teams vying for playoff relevance.

The roster in progress

PG: Trae Young, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Goodwin, Skylar Mays

SG: Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, Kris Dunn, Tony Snell

SF: Danilo Gallinari, De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic (offer sheet)

PF: John Collins, Solomon Hill

C: Clint Capela, Bruno Fernando, Onyeka Okongwu

Meet the Hawks 2020 Draftees –

I’m sure you will agree with me when I say – the outlook for us die-hard Hawks Fans has been nothing short of bleak … for, far too long. However, you can see the infusion of upgraded talent up and down the roster, after just three years under Travis Schlenk’s leadership.

In case you missed it, here is Travis discussing the 2020 NBA Draft/Post  Draft interview –

Why won’t they come here?

Why superstar free agents have avoided playing for the Atlanta Hawks in the past, is simple.  The home-team has a decades-long record of dysfunctional ownership known for – operating on the cheap, and this franchise has had a permeable culture of rank mediocrity. Great players don’t want to waste their limited opportunities being tied to a loser.

Look, the Atlanta Hawks are not a small market team.  Atlanta holds the tenth ranking out of sixty-seven  rankings considered on, Sports Market Team Size per Nielsen Ratings.

The old mantra, They won’t come here! is beginning to bleed out, and those words are fading into the background, turning blurry at the edges.

I can hear those thoroughbreds galloping towards Georgia – just over my shoulder.

You know the phrase, If you build it – they will come?  It’s true and, we fans are now witnesses to the fact that there are cracks in the old story of, They won’t come here!  Well, they are trickling in and no, It’s not about The Bag  it’s about The Love of The Game! (winks – maybe equal parts of both?), and endless opportunities.

They know, the Atlanta Hawks have new owners, a newly remodeled sports arena, tons of cap space, and loads of momentum towards building a winning culture. They see who’s steering the rudders in Coach Lloyd Pierce, and his amazing staff of assistant coaches. They see the Emory Health Care Facilities, shared with the Atlanta Hawks Training Facility. Yes, they also see Travis Schlenk leaning in at the ship’s bow – and, this ship is clearly headed in the right direction.

A Philosophical Man

This article would be disingenuous IF we don’t address the elephant in the room –

Luka ‘Wonder-Boy” Dončić

So there you have it, from the horse’s mouth – to your ears.  Travis Schlenk is a philosophical man,  a man mired in his own convictions: That, the NBA Draft Lottery is a gamble. That if you can get two lottery swings, on a mud-level rebuild?  Do the simple math – two swings are better than one.

Luka Dončić is a great player, but so is Trae Young.  Early indications of Cam Reddish’s play also suggest – he’s no slouch either.  Sure, Luka is nice but, I doubt he can occupy two spaces on the court at once.

I have seen where, Dallas Mavericks’ fan-blog commenters question Luka’s; stamina, agility,  consistent mild-injuries, weight and most of all – Luka’s availability late in the fourth-quarters of games. So, there is that.

In the long run, Atlanta Hawks fans are  going to be fine with Trae Young leading this team, and being the face of this city, these fans, and the NBA.  We have Travis Schlenk to thank for that.

Like coffee beans rumbling in a pot of boiling water, Travis Schlenk is changing the color of the water and is filling the room with the sweet aromatics of freshly brewed coffee. The adversity of being in a pot of boiling water did not change the man – The man changed the color of the water and he changed the air in the room!

Travis Schlenk is restoring a winning culture to the Atlanta Hawks organization. He’s “bringing sexy back” to Hawks basketball by, bridging the chasm between the NBA’s Future Stars and its Veteran Free Agents – for the betterment of this team as well as, the broader Atlanta Community.

Great players are on the move, and they’re Soaring Down South to Atlanta, GA. – who knew?

A Man of the people

By embracing the community of Atlanta, GA., here’s how State Farm Arena, became a local polling site for, Atlanta GA Voters, amidst an ongoing pandemic –

What more can I say? All this praise is making me blush, so there it is – My case for why Travis Schlenk is – The Real MVP of Atlanta Hawks Basketball.