Daniel Starkman

Eastern Notes: Hayes, Pistons, Queen, Bulls, Skyhawks

Killian Hayes was Troy Weaver‘s first draft choice when he became general manager of the Pistons, having been selected No. 7 overall in 2020. Three years later, the guard’s future with Detroit is uncertain.

As James L. Edwards III of The Athletic writes in his latest mailbag, the Pistons have drafted guards Cade Cunningham (No. 1 overall in 2021) and Jaden Ivey (No. 5 overall in 2022) since Hayes was picked. This offseason, they traded up in June’s draft to acquire former Houston Cougars guard Marcus Sasser (No. 25 overall), and sent out a future second-round pick to land veteran guard Monte Morris from the Wizards.

Where does that leave Hayes? In Edwards’ view, the Pistons will either trade the 22-year-old before the 2023/24 season starts, or they added backcourt depth in order to “light a fire” under the young guard so he’ll have to earn his minutes.

Edwards also touches on some other topics, including who might take the backup center job between James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley III. For what it’s worth, Edwards thinks Bagley is a better player right now, but acknowledges Wiseman might have more upside.

Here’s more from the East:

  • Trevelin Queen will be signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Magic, reports Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). Queen’s one-year training camp deal is non-guaranteed and worth the veteran’s minimum. If he’s waived before the season starts, he could earn a bonus of up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with the Osceola Magic, the team’s G League affiliate. Exhibit 10 deals can also be converted into two-way contracts, and Orlando does have a two-way opening, as our tracker shows.
  • Re-signing forward Terry Taylor to a two-year, minimum-salary contract might be the final offseason move for the Bulls, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Having Taylor and Carlik Jones on non-guaranteed deals creates financial flexibility for the Bulls, who now have 15 players on standard deals and all three two-way slots filled, Johnson notes. It’s worth noting that Chicago is virtually certain to add some players on Exhibit 10 deals ahead of training camp, though those are often geared more toward filling out the G League roster.
  • The College Park Skyhawks — the Hawks‘ NBAGL affiliate — have announced Daniel Starkman as their new general manager and confirmed that Ryan Schmidt will be their new head coach, according to a team press release. Starkman, who has been with the Hawks organization since 2015, was previously Atlanta’s senior manager of basketball operations. Schmidt was head coach of the British Basketball League’s London Lions last season. He will also be an assistant coach with the Hawks under Quin Snyder.

Hawks Extend, Promote Travis Schlenk

3:39pm: The Hawks have formally issued a press release announcing that they’ve promoted Schlenk to president of basketball operations. The announcement doesn’t mention an extension, but it seems safe to assume that it’s official now too.

The Hawks also announced many more promotions and hires, including (but not limited to):

  • Dan Martinez to VP of team operations
  • Derek Pierce to VP of player personnel
  • Dotun Akinwale Jr. to director of scouting
  • Mike McNeive to director of player personnel
  • Daniel Starkman to senior manager of basketball operations
  • Nick Ressler to manager of basketball operations

“We are extremely pleased with the direction that Travis and our entire basketball operations team has us heading as a franchise,” Hawks owner Tony Ressler said in a statement. “He has used the draft to build an impressive young core, hired one of the NBA’s top young coaches in Lloyd Pierce and positioned us to have the cap space, draft picks and financial flexibility needed to have long-term success in the NBA.”

2:39pm: The Hawks have reached a deal with general manager Travis Schlenk on a new multiyear contract extension, reports Zach Klein of WSB-TV (Twitter link). Confirming Klein’s report, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that an official announcement from the team will likely come within the next day or so.

Schlenk took over as Atlanta’s head of basketball operations during the spring of 2017 after the team re-assigned GM Wes Wilcox and removed Mike Budenholzer‘s president of basketball operations title.

Since joining the Hawks, Schlenk has launched a full-fledged rebuild, accumulating draft assets and making strong use of his own first-round picks, having selected John Collins in 2017 and Trae Young and Kevin Huerter in 2018.

It remains to be seen whether this year’s lottery picks (De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish) will look as promising as Collins, Young, and Huerter have, and Schlenk faced some criticism for trading the pick that became Luka Doncic. Still, the former Warriors executive has the Hawks pointed in the right direction as one of the NBA’s up-and-coming teams.

After going 24-58 during Schlenk’s first year running the show, the team won 29 games last season and will look to improve upon that number in 2019/20.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hawks Announce Front Office Changes

As they enter their second year under the leadership of general manager Travis Schlenk, the Hawks have made some changes to their front office, announcing a series of additions and promotions in a press release. Here are some of the notable announcements from the franchise:

  • Veteran NBA executive Rod Higgins, formerly the general manager in Golden State and Charlotte, has been named the Hawks’ vice president of basketball operations. He served as a college scout for the team last season.
  • Former Warriors GM Larry Riley, who has also worked for the Mavericks, Grizzlies, and Bucks during his extensive NBA career, has been hired by the Hawks as a senior advisor. Like Higgins, Riley worked in the Warriors’ front office when Schlenk was in Golden State.
  • Daniel Starkman, who joined the Hawks in 2015 and served as the club’s manager of basketball information and scouting coordinator in 2017/18, has been named Atlanta’s manager of basketball operations.
  • Former Timberwolves basketball operations analyst Dwight Lutz has joined the Hawks as the team’s director of basketball strategy & analytics.

For more details on the Hawks’ front office changes, plus new additions to Atlanta’s athletic department and medical staff, be sure to check out the full press release from the club.