The Atlanta Hawks suffered an embarrassing loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, who were missing Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
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Entering the NBA season, expectations were sky-high for the Atlanta Hawks as they were on the back of an Eastern Conference finals run. However, the Hawks have nothing short of underwhelming this season. They currently have a 16-20 record, sitting in 12th place in a very competitive Eastern Conference.
Their only bright spot this season has been young superstar, Trae Young. The dynamic guard has been averaging 28.4 points and 9.5 assists per game this season. This practically makes him a lock for an All-Star berth this season.
Most recently, Trae Young went off for a career-high 56 points while dishing out 14 assists in a losing effort against a Portland Trail Blazers team missing Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
The loss prompted Atlanta Hawks GM Travis Schlenk to have some harsh words for the team. So, what exactly did he say? Read on and find out…
Atlanta Hawks GM Travis Schlenk hints at making trades after shocking loss to Trail Blazers.
On the back of an impressive season, many expected the Atlanta Hawks to make a move or two this summer to strengthen their squad to make a deep playoff run. However, their major offseason moves only included handing a new deal to John Collins. Moreover, they ended up extending big man Clint Capela.
The team’s front office’s strategy to run it back clearly hasn’t worked out. After their loss to the weakened Portland Trailblazers, their GM come out and hinted at a possible trade in the near future.
Via Atlanta Radio Station 92.9 The Game –
“It’s a hard pill to swallow when your team’s not playing as well as you think it should. Maybe I need to lower my expectations for this team. Ultimately, all of this falls on my shoulders. I put this group together, and they’re not responding. So, we need to take a deep look into this for sure.”
“We’re seeing the same thing every game. Again, last night we had the lead going into the fourth quarter. Then we can’t keep it. I sound like a broken record here, but it’s the same thing every game. Again, ultimately this all falls on me. So, we have to see if this group is the group that we saw last year during the second half of the season or if it’s the group we’re seeing this year. And that’s what we have to determine and we have to make adjustments.”
Ouch. That’s harsh. However, there is some sort of validity in what he is saying. It just hasn’t worked out for the Atlanta Hawks this season. A silver lining amidst this chaos is the rise of young wing Cam Reddish. The 22-year-old could be a potential trade piece if the Hawks decide to pull the trigger.
As we know from last season, the playoffs are just better when the Atlanta Hawks and Trae Young are a part of it. So, hopefully, for the sake of basketball fans, the Hawks can step on the gas in the coming weeks and conjure a winning streak or two and make a late playoff push.
