Hawks owner Tony Ressler met with the media Thursday afternoon to discuss the state of the franchise, his disappointment with how this season transpired and his expectations moving forward.
Ressler answered wide-ranging questions about the luxury tax, his confidence in coach Nate McMillan and general manager Travis Schlenk, how aggressive the franchise might be in pursuing trades and adding another superstar and the complacency the Hawks showed after advancing to the Eastern Conference finals last season.
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Because of the array of topics Ressler discussed, we’ll break down his comments into separate sections so it’s easier to keep track of the key points. Let’s get to it.
The luxury tax
Quite possibly the biggest question for the Hawks this offseason is whether they’ll pay the luxury tax penalty. Usually when a team is eliminated in the first round, particularly in a series that wasn’t very close, it causes the front office to reevaluate priorities and the roster as a whole. The most revealing quote of the entire 30-minute interview with Ressler came when I asked if he now has regrets about bringing back mostly the same roster from last season.
“I think if you asked our front office, they would say that they thought, based on last season’s visit to the Eastern Conference finals, that we could bring back predominantly the same team and get better, and (they) expected to be better,” Ressler said. “I don’t think that worked out the way we thought.
“Yes, I think we should have tried to get better rather than bring back what we had. That won’t happen again. It was a mistake, in my opinion at least.”
That quote alone tells us we should expect the Hawks to look much different next season. Atlanta will have salary cap constraints with its current roster, as Trae Young’s max (and possible supermax) extension kicks in this coming season. Ressler has previously said he would have no qualms about paying the tax if it meant the Hawks were title contenders. He was asked about that quote and what his stance is now on potentially entering the tax for the first time since purchasing the Hawks.
“We’re going to pay what we have to pay,” Ressler said. “Sometimes owners set a tone — and I’m trying to set a very clear tone — sometimes we say some things one season that may not pertain to the next. Going into the tax doesn’t scare us. Obviously, you want to spend money intelligently. Obviously, you want to run a good business. For whatever it’s worth, I do not look at going into the tax as only possible if we’re competing for a championship that season. Our job is to go into the tax when it’s good business, to position ourselves for greatness. We do not fear the tax. We do not fear spending money. We fully expect Atlanta to be a truly attractive marketplace for (whoever) considers playing here. Money is not going to be our obstacle.”
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I then followed up with a very specific question: Has he given Schlenk clearance to enter the tax this season?
“Yes. It’s a one word answer,” Ressler said. “I don’t want to qualify hopefully the obvious. I also say let’s do it intelligently. I don’t think you want to go into the tax to prove the point that we can go into the tax. I don’t worry about those types of things. We can go into the tax for the right reasons at the right time, any time.”
My main takeaway is this: It’s still not 100 percent clear if the Hawks will or won’t be a tax-paying team this coming season. Ressler is essentially saying he won’t pay it just to pay it, and the moves Schlenk makes this offseason have to justify paying a penalty. If the Hawks build a roster on paper that looks as if it’s going to struggle once again to just make the Play-In Tournament, it makes zero sense to pay the tax. If the Hawks make splashy moves and add a second star, then there shouldn’t be any hesitation if the goal is to win a title.
How the Hawks handle Danilo Gallinari’s partially guaranteed $21.5 million contract could provide some insight on how they plan on navigating the luxury tax. If they simply waive him, the Hawks will pay him just $5 million. If that happens, to me, it would signal an avoidance of the tax; they would be under the tax by $13 million after the move. But if the Hawks package Gallinari in a trade and acquire fully guaranteed salary in return, it would signal that the franchise is serious about bolstering the roster and money isn’t an issue.
Ultimately, Ressler’s comments on the tax weren’t any different than what he’s previously said on the topic: He’ll pay it if it’s necessary and warranted, like if the Hawks add a star this offseason.
“I think every team should add a superstar whenever they can, and I promise you that we’re no exception,” he said.
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Improvements needed for the roster
Ressler made it clear he expected the Hawks to be better than what they were this season, and the plan is to improve the roster so they’re not in this same position a year from now.
He said he doesn’t believe the Hawks took advantage of this previous offseason to get better in meaningful ways, and the sense of urgency to do so has increased this offseason. When asked what he considers the biggest priorities the team must address in order to take the next step forward, Ressler started by alluding to the level of complacency the Hawks had this season after advancing to the conference finals. We mentioned in our postmortem on the season how several people inside the organization (and outside of it) were stunned by Young’s comments on the regular season being more boring than advancing deep in the postseason.
“I would argue we have to play hard from Game 1 to Game 82,” Ressler said. “The regular season matters. Our focus has to be there the day we get to training camp. Playing hard every game in the NBA is hard, but we have to build that culture. I thought we were really good and really deep this year; we weren’t as good, and we weren’t as deep as we thought. Obviously, if you’re second in offense and 26th in defense, I’m going to suggest there are pretty obvious areas we need to work on. I think having focus from beginning to the end of the season and, certainly, having as much focus on the defensive end of the court as we have on the offensive end of the court are two areas of obvious focus.”
It’s no secret that the Hawks have to address the lack of quality defenders they have on the roster. The perimeter defense all season long was excruciating to watch on a nightly basis. But that’s only one of the issues the Hawks have to improve upon before the start of next season. The Miami series exposed Atlanta’s lack of a trusted, go-to secondary creator option when Young is targeted the way he was by the Heat. Though Kevin Huerter, Bogdan Bogdanović and Delon Wright are all capable ballhandlers, none of them rise to the level of being feared by opponents in a seven-game series. The Hawks need someone who can consistently break defenses down and get buckets off the dribble to open up the floor even more for Young.
“Getting more folks who could handle the ball, create and more defensive-oriented players — or both — that’s an obvious answer,” Ressler said when asked what kinds of players the Hawks need. “When I talk to Travis and Landry (Fields) about this very subject, which you could imagine happens frequently, I think their view is the league is complicated. You have to use the free-agent view, you have to use the draft, you have to use the development of the players — and, frankly, the availability of what’s out there will determine the decisions we make. We have a pretty good sense of where we need to get better.”
Ressler was also asked about losing important role players from the 2020-21 team. Solomon Hill was one of the most trusted confidants for each of the young players but was traded in the Cam Reddish deal. Tony Snell, though quiet, was someone the Hawks could lean on to do the little things on the court that helped them numerous times throughout the season. Brandon Goodwin simply would’ve been a better third point guard for the Hawks than Lou Williams.
“I think some of the great franchises out there that are performing beautifully have mixed quality young players with quality older players more effectively than maybe we have in the last couple of seasons,” Ressler said.
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Evaluations of Schlenk, McMillan
For those thinking the Hawks might make a change to their leadership, Ressler quieted the noise when I asked about his confidence in both McMillan and Schlenk being the right leaders for the organization.
“The simple answer is I think they are the right guys to lead this team going forward,” Ressler said. “I have enormous confidence in both Travis and Nate. I think I, as owner, Travis, the president of basketball operations, Nate, as head coach, all underperformed this year. I think if you asked any one of us — hopefully all of us — we would all agree that we all underperformed. We all thought we would be better, and we intend to be better. But if the question is do I have great confidence in their ability, the answer is yes.”
Ressler gave a similar answer last season when asked about his confidence in Lloyd Pierce as head coach. At that point, he said he believed in Pierce and his ability to lead the team before the Hawks fired him 34 games into the season. Replacing a coach after one bad season is normally bad business and could portray the franchise as one in disarray, so it’s understandable why the Hawks wouldn’t make such drastic move; however, there are certainly people inside the organization who wonder if McMillan is the right coach moving forward.
I do think the level of pressure on Schlenk and McMillan has intensified after the disappointment of this season, but it would appear the Hawks are entering next season with the status quo.
“Between Travis, Landry and Nate, we have a hell of a team in our front office and coaching staff,” Ressler said. “I have enormous confidence in all of those folks. We have a really professional sense. As our front office helps the coaching staff set a focus, we have players that need to appreciate that every game matters. I think after this season — I might be wrong — our roster and players were as disappointed as our coaching staff, front office and ownership. It’s not like any of us were completely thrilled with the season. We can give out a list of excuses — we did have injuries, COVID, and didn’t have all of the things you’d expect. This isn’t a business about excuses. I do think with another year, our players will be more mature, our coaching staff and front office will get better, and hopefully our ownership gets better and decision-making, overall, gets better.”
Complacency inside the organization
Not only did he feel as if the players were complacent in how they approached this season, but he said that seeped into the ownership group and front office. Ressler said every level of the franchise felt like the team was just a step away from winning a title, but that obviously turned out to be an incorrect assessment.
“That won’t happen again,” he said. “I think there was complacency across the organization, maybe for the right reasons because we thought we were closer than we were. That’s what this season told me. The idea that you have complacency before you win a championship — maybe after we win a championship, I’ll take a breath. We’re not going to have complacency again at any level.”
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I would anticipate the Hawks being aggressive in upgrading the roster this offseason. There’s almost no chance they run it back with the same core in place. Sure, they’ll address the secondary players and look to improve the bench, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise if they look to shake up the core of this roster. They do have a decision to make on whether or not to agree to a contract extension with De’Andre Hunter, to which Ressler said he hopes “we could do something fair and reasonable for him and for the Atlanta Hawks.” He didn’t tip his hand one way or the other, and it was a similar quote to the one he gave before the offseason when John Collins and the team didn’t agree on an extension. Hunter and Collins are the two young players (outside of Young) who do have value that could net the Hawks a big piece to possibly improve the team.
Here’s how Ressler answered the question on whether or not he expects the team to pursue trades this offseason:
“Travis and Landry are trying to get better,” Ressler said. “I would say that they feel like they have a pretty deep roster and have opportunities to get better. It’s a function of what’s possible as to what’s mandatory. I think we like to focus on what’s possible and good for what we’re trying to build. If I push too hard, too soon, what I’m learning is you actually hurt the objective of building a true championship-caliber team. I believe that to be true. If you push too slow, you never get there. … (Among) Travis, Landry and Nate, I’m going to say this, I’m the least patient of the four of us. I don’t think that’s a shock to them. If the question is are we fearful of the tax, the answer is no.
“We plan to get better. We’ll see over the next couple of months whether we live up to these commitments. It won’t be for a lack of effort. I promise you that.”
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
