In recent years, the Atlanta Hawks front office and management have lacked a certain something when it comes to making transactions.
Franchise cornerstones Al Horford and Paul Millsap were both allowed to walk in consecutive offseasons even though the Hawks could’ve flipped them for assets at the trade deadline. Of course, the team was still trying to stay relevant in the Eastern Conference. So what did they get for keeping those two on the books instead of trading them? One playoff series win spread across the 2016 and 2017 postseasons. Not great.
Now, with a far more forward-thinking and pragmatic General Manager at the helm in Travis Schlenk, the team is making some terrific moves – including drafting John Collins and Tyler Dorsey in the 2017 NBA Draft, taking on bad money last year (Jamal Crawford) in exchange for draft picks – all leading up to perhaps Schlenk’s finest transaction yet: Trading Dennis Schröder to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Carmelo Anthony and a 2022 lottery-protected first round pick.