Landry Fields gets brutally honest about Atlanta Hawks’ roster
The Atlanta Hawks are not satisfied. That much was clear judging from the words of (still new) general manager Landry Fields who addressed the media with the trade deadline, then, just a day away. In the hours that have followed, the NBA has seen a flurry of moves.
Former Brooklyn Nets stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant got themselves traded to the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, respectively, amid several other, smaller deals.
As for the Hawks, nothing is off the table ahead of 3 p.m. ET on Thursday.
“As far as anybody (being) untouchable, it’s like, you never say never, right?” Fields said, per Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “As you know, obviously, some guys, or you know, all guys have value, add value all over the place. So you’re always weighing that. But it’s a fluid market today, right now, and we’ll see what gets done before the deadline.”
Atlanta Hawks GM delivers telling message about roster at NBA trade deadline
“It’s tough to say, do we make a splash (or) do we stand pat right now, you know, both options are on the table because we feel good about where we’re at,” Fields said. “We’re seeing the progress, but we also know that this is a time for us to continue to add to our group.”
This is not entirely a change of tune from a Hawks front office that has undergone a serious amount of change in the last couple of months with the departure of Fields’ predecessor in running the day-to-day operations of the team, former team president Travis Schlenk who stepped down amid a slew of controversy surrounding the team.
The Hawks have dealt with rumors surrounding John Collins for three years, largely due to their own doing.
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But they also had a miscommunication between Trae Young and head coach Nate McMillan lead to the former being absent from the sideline during a game that he was going to miss with an injury.
While both sides have moved past the issue, their respective versions of the incident differed.
McMillan has also had to fight off reports that he almost stepped down mid-season and will do so at the conclusion of the campaign, be it at the end of the regular season or the playoffs.
It’s quite the course correction for a team that was in the Eastern Conference Finals just two years ago and made one of the blockbuster trades this past offseason adding guard Dejounte Murray from the San Antonio Spurs but they seemingly undid their own good deed subsequently trading away swingman Kevin Huerter to the Sacramento Kings.
Huerter has helped guide the Kings to the third seed in the Western Conference.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Fields’ comments – which included acknowledging that the new front office has demanded more from the players in recent weeks and the results that followed – is that he did not exclude even Young (and by extension Murray).
Young is the face of the franchise, signed to a five-year, $215 million contract that should keep him tied to Atlanta through 2026 at least with a $48.9 million player option for the 2027 season.
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Recently, he has become a popular choice to be the NBA’s next disgruntled superstar destined to follow in the footsteps of Durant and Irving in forcing his way out of an unfavorable situation for greener pastures, though nothing is even close to imminent at this point. Just something to keep filed away if this season continues on its current trajectory.