ATLANTA — Atlanta Hawks As they think about offseason changes, they are emphasizing defensive improvement.
Landry Fields was promoted to general manger in the front offices.
Field reiterated Monday that defense was the main priority in the offseason after the team took a major step back following its 2021 Eastern Conference final victory.
Fields indicated that the Hawks need to establish a defensive identity if they want to regain the title.
Landry stated that the identity defensively had been, well, that’s something you’ll have to build into. “That’s part of why we haven’t taken this step. It is essential that we have a hard-hat approach every day to our defense capabilities. … The identity piece will only be complete when it is seen consistently.
The Hawks were 26th in league defensive rating and allowed 113.7 points per 100 possessions. It was a major reason that the team scored below.500 during the season. The team then reached the play-in tournament, where they were awarded the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.
Fields was previously assistant GM. The team has yet to announce his promotion. Fields’ promotion will become official on July 1. However, he spoke out about his new role on Monday. He said that Travis Schlenk, team president was “still the decision-maker.”
All-Star point guard Trae YoungThe Hawks finished sixth in scoring. This disappointing season demonstrated that the Hawks need to improve their defense and possibly add Young as a complementary scorer.
Atlanta has the No. The No. 16 overall pick was made in Thursday’s NBA Draft, but Atlanta could trade it for a veteran player.
Fields stated that “it’s always a fine-line and you have those talks for sure.”
Fields, 33 years old, was a five-year player for the New York Knicks He was born in Toronto, and he rose quickly on the court. He was offered a scouting job in San Antonio and was promoted to assistant GM with the Hawks in 2020.
Hawks have had to reconsider their plans after a disappointing season.
Fields stated that it seemed natural because of the places Fields wanted to take this season and the results.
Young is not allowed to discuss trades. The young team also has power forward John Collins, small forward De’Andre HunterCenter Clint Capela The shooting guard Kevin Huerter.
Tony Ressler, Hawks principal owner, said that the team had been too complacent in the past offseason. He stated that the team would not make the same mistake.
Ressler declared last month, “I think that we should have attempted to get better than to bring back what was,” and then added “That won’t occur again, by the way.” In my opinion, it was a mistake.
Ressler’s comments fuel speculation that the Hawks may be open to a trade.
Fields claimed that Hawks had received calls from several teams about “any and every player”. We will analyze that information and determine if anything makes sense.