When the Atlanta Hawks hired Travis Schlenk with the express charge of rebuilding from the ground up, many were skeptical of the decision. After all, the Hawks made the playoffs following the 2016-17 season and it isn’t a regular occurrence in the NBA to see a “playoff team” (albeit a shaky one) stripped down with an eye on the future.
Of course, there were many factors in play — ranging from the pending free agency of Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr. to the always entertaining Dwight Howard saga — and the decision likely wasn’t made easily by ownership and the new front office.