Hawks and Landry Fields have a ‘vision’ that may become clearer during NBA Draft week

Landry Fields joked that the last time he had a news conference was 10 years ago, when he signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Raptors in free agency. That was the final contract he would sign as a player. Because of a nagging problem with a nerve in his right wrist that doctors could not figure out, Fields’ NBA career was over when he was 26.

At the end of his tenure with the Raptors, Fields found himself doing more scouting than playing, so when his time in the league was up, it was a natural transition to join a front office. The Spurs gave him his first front-office opportunity as a West Coast scout in 2016. Six years later, at just 33, Fields will soon be the Hawks general manager, third in command on the basketball operations side of Atlanta’s organization.

Not much will change for Fields, who’s been assistant general manager for the Hawks the past two seasons. He will still report to Travis Schlenk, the president of basketball operations, and they both will operate under Tony Ressler’s direction as owner.

“I think there’s plenty of franchises who are doing a really good job. I love what we’re doing,” Fields said. “Being under Travis the past couple of seasons and seeing how he envisions this whole thing to be is truly inspiring, and I’m grateful that he’s given me the opportunity to help him in that and has empowered me to help bring it to where he wants it to go. I do believe we share a vision.”

Fields won’t officially start his new role as general manager until July 1 for contract purposes, but behind the scenes, he’s already an integral part of the day-to-day decision-making. And Fields is part of a front office that is one of the most interesting to monitor this offseason. We’ve known since the season ended that the Hawks were going to be active in discussions to improve the roster, and both Schlenk and Ressler have publicly stated that.

“It seems natural with where we wanted to go this season and how it ended up,” Fields said of all the Hawks rumors. “There are quotes in the media of us wanting to get better, so there’s been times where teams and media have definitely locked into that and the chatter starts. For me, it doesn’t seem different than the past couple of years. We’re doing our job in calling teams and seeing what’s out there. Teams are doing their job and calling us. Perhaps there’s just more out there this year.”

The Hawks have made it as clear as they possibly can that they want to improve this offseason on the defensive end of the floor. They finished this season 26th in the league in defensive rating. Clint Capela’s health to start the season was a contributing factor in the Hawks’ decline defensively, but bigger than that, their perimeter defense was a mess all season. De’Andre Hunter is the team’s best perimeter defender, but he only had flashes of brilliance rather than consistent game-to-game performances. Delon Wright’s importance didn’t emerge until late in the second half of the season, Bogdan Bogdanović and Kevin Huerter regressed, and Trae Young is simply not good defensively.

Part of what the Hawks are hoping for defensively in 2022-23 is internal development. Fields said there has to be a mindset shift from the current roster to progress defensively. He was asked what he feels like the identity of the Hawks is defensively right now. He initially laughed at the question, and that told you exactly how the front office feels about where this team is on that end.

“The identity defensively, that’s something we’re going to have to build into,” Fields said. “That’s been part of the reason why we haven’t taken that step. We have to have an everyday hard-hat approach to our defensive capabilities. For us, it’s how do we get tougher? How do we continue to make the right rotations? How do we take pride in point-of-attack defense? All of those things are considered into that. The identity piece is going to come when we see it consistently.

“Part of the process of where we’re at as a group, we still have a young group. Playing defense in this league is hard. Everyone watches the teams that advance in the playoffs, that is a mindset and a continuous progression they have to go through. I chalk that up to guys continuing to learn.”

Fields did say the Hawks are looking at outside talent to upgrade the defense but, of course, that will depend on who is and isn’t available through trades, free agency and the draft. He also said for the Hawks to improve next season, “defense is where it’s going to start.” It would be stunning if the Hawks don’t add several good defenders to fill out their roster in the coming weeks. Fields also echoed what Ressler said during his news conference last month: that getting a secondary ballhandler who fits with Young is also important to take some of the load off Young’s offensive responsibilities.

A lot of the conversation surrounding the Hawks right now is about how they can upgrade their roster through trades, and it makes sense because of the team’s salary-cap situation. It can’t spend big in free agency because it’s over the cap, it has the No. 16 pick in the draft — players outside the lottery don’t hit very often — and it has many good players but only one great one in Young. Simply put, the Hawks are an obvious team to mention in all kinds of trade possibilities.

When asked about the untouchables on this roster, Fields ducked the question. But if you’ve been following along, you know the only true untouchable is Young. Would the Hawks like to keep Hunter and Onyeka Okongwu long term? Absolutely, but if a trade came along that blew the front office away, those two players don’t have the same staying power as Young. As we mentioned shortly after the season ended, John Collins remains the likeliest player to be dealt this offseason. It wouldn’t be a stunner if Collins were elsewhere by the time the draft ends Thursday night.

“We’re going to be looking at different options. We want to get better,” Fields said of upgrading the roster through trade. “Trade is absolutely, in looking at the finances, something that is going to be important for us. That’s not the only way. There’s still the development aspect too. We like to think of draft, free agency and trades as the three mechanisms, but if you do the fourth one right, development, that allows you the chance to get better too.”

Any big move the Hawks make will likely solidify them as a tax-paying team, and Fields said paying the luxury tax as an organization has been a “continued conversation.” Paying the tax is going to depend on finding a move, or moves, that makes sense for Ressler to pay the tax this season. But whether they will or won’t pay the tax is likely not something the Hawks will have any idea about until a move is actually agreed upon.

Fields was asked how far away he thinks the Hawks are from competing with the other top teams in the league, and he made it clear there’s still work to do to be a true contender in the league.

“We still have a ways to go. We have a young group,” Fields said. “We still have areas, especially defensively, we have to continue growing. To put an exact time frame on it is difficult because you’re working with nuance and complexity with humanity. At the same time, our guys are hungry, and they’ve been working hard. For us in the front office and collaborating with our coaches, I think we’ve done an extremely good job this offseason, and it hopefully sets us up for the future.”

Other notes

Not really surprising, but the Hawks feel like this is a deep draft; they’re not going to say otherwise. “We feel great at 16,” Fields said. “If there’s a chance for us to move up and get a player we really like, or if there’s a chance to move back and get something in compensation for that, that’s what we’re going to do because that’s ultimately going to help us get better in more than just on the court.”
Danilo Gallinari’s contract guarantee date is June 29, meaning his $5 million partial guarantee will convert to his full $21.5 million salary if he’s still on the roster past then. League sources continue to believe the Hawks will not keep him past June 29. Here’s what Fields said about the considerations the front office has to make with Gallinari: “Gallo has been really good for us these past two seasons. It’s something that we have ongoing talks about. I think we’re factoring in other variables as we get closer to the draft in what that means for us from that standpoint. I think from there, we’ll be able to make an informed decision.” When asked if there’s interest in keeping him, Fields only said: “Potentially. Potentially.”
Fields said the Hawks “hope to get something done” in regards to an extension for Hunter this offseason. Technically, they aren’t allowed to have those discussions just yet, but they plan on it when they’re allowed to in the coming weeks.
Fields said there’s interest in bringing back Wright, who’s a free agent, on a new deal. Fields liked how Wright played with Young on the floor together as a secondary ballhandler and thought he provided a much-needed defensive presence.
Bogdanović and Jalen Johnson, who both underwent recent medical procedures, are both progressing well. The team said Johnson is expected to be fully cleared by the start of training camp, and the hope is Bogdanović is cleared by the start of the regular season.

Hawks and Landry Fields have a ‘vision’ that may become clearer during NBA Draft week

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