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Given the view you have as Trae’s agent, how did Trae Young’s extension with the Wizards come to be? Aaron: Mintz: “He made it known at the time of the trade that this was his preferred destination. He is with Travis Schlenk, who drafted him [in Atlanta in 2018]. With Michael Winger, Will Dawkins, Coach Keefe and David Vanterpool, there are so many people that come from Oklahoma City and were with Oklahoma when Trae was growing up in Norman. So there is a ton of familiarity with people there. I think there was also real intrigue with Washington D.C. It is a huge basketball community that has an extremely passionate fanbase. There is an excitement in being part of a sleeping giant in that market and being a part of something special with the young talent that is already there.
Aaron Mintz: We’ve already had some players there with our agency over the last couple of years. I’ve known everyone in that front office for a long time since everyone’s days in Oklahoma, Winger’s days with the Clippers, Travis Schlenk in Golden State and Atlanta. So I knew about the infrastructure they’ve built and how well-run that place is. So Trae went in with a ton of excitement. Then they added Anthony Davis. You can also just feel how thorough and how well-run that place is from every angle with front office, coaching staff, player development, medical, etc. Feeling that excitement and fanbase in that city further solidified what he thought Washington D.C. could be.
There has been some speculation that Nick Ressler, the son of Atlanta Hawks owner Anthony Ressler, would not allow general manager Landry Fields to trade Trae Young if he wanted to, but Brian Windhorst's recent reporting suggests otherwise. “It's my understanding that assurances have been given that Landry Fields is the person who is getting to make those decisions,” Windhorst said when asked about the matter on his podcast. “I know that was an issue with the Dejounte Murray trade. that Travis Schlenk the previous general manager did not, was not in favor of that trade, and basically didn't do the negotiation that led to him eventually leaving midway through the season. I have been told and assured that is no longer the case, Landry is in complete and total control. Obviously Tony Ressler the owner get to sign off on all that stuff but, those words could be proven not correct down the line but that's the way it's been described to me.”
The Hornets' search is expected to focus on several sitting general managers, including Philadelphia's Elton Brand, New Orleans' Trajan Langdon, Cleveland's Mike Gansey and the LA Clippers' Trent Redden, sources said. Brooklyn's Jeff Peterson, Washington's Travis Schlenk and Sacramento's Wes Wilcox are among assistant GMs who will be in consideration, sources said. Peterson, Schlenk and Wilcox worked with the Atlanta Hawks when Schnall was one of the franchise's minority owners.
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In hiring Michael Winger as president of Monumental Basketball, and Winger subsequently hiring Will Dawkins as the Wizards’ general manager and Travis Schlenk as senior vice president of player personnel, the Wizards now have three established executives who helped engineer quick turnarounds with the LA Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Hawks, respectively. And Leonsis paid them at top rates for NBA executives, according to multiple league sources.
But I’m convinced this new group wants to blow it up and take it as far down to the studs as it can. The best way to do that would be to take the Miami offer, middling though it is, collect as many picks from the Heat (and, potentially, a third team) as possible, and call it a day. As intriguing as Ayton would be to build around, making that deal would tie Washington, again, to a mid-level rebuild. Whether or not they re-sign Kuzma and/or Porziņģis, they’d likely have to run at least a good chunk of last year’s team back. And I don’t think Winger, Dawkins and Schlenk want to do that.
The goal is to meld all of those experiences, in all of those places, into a cohesive battle plan for D.C. “I think that’s a strength of ours,” Dawkins said. “It’s a true strength of ours to be from different backgrounds, different markets, shared experiences. Michael and I obviously worked together in Oklahoma City, and we were able to talk through different strategies there as well, and come out connected. I will say that Travis’ experiences in Golden State and Atlanta, we’ll be able to heavily rely on those. Michael, in a big city, star players, heavily rely on those. And, in Oklahoma City, we kind of had two mountains. … we’ve all had a lot of shared experiences at high levels. And, once you put all that in a room, it’s gonna be a little janky for a little bit. But we’ll figure it out.”
Said Winger: “I think it’s probably unorthodox in so far as Will and I are going to collaborate on every meaningful roster decision, every meaningful top-level executive decision, but there shouldn’t be a mistake: Will is running basketball operations for the Wizards. And whatever that day-to-day management requires, whatever decisions that requires, those are Will’s decisions to make. Corporate decisions, higher-level player personnel decisions, I’m certainly going to be involved. There’s gonna be a team of us involved. Coach (John) Thompson (III) is involved. Travis is involved. Wes (Unseld Jr.) will be involved. … We’re going to be a very collaborative group.”
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Adrian Wojnarowski: The Wizards are hiring former Hawks President of Basketball Operations Travis Schlenk as Senior VP of Player Personnel, sources tell ESPN. New Wizards president Michael Winger lands a well-regarded talent evaluator and executive as he continues his search for a general manager.
Ressler told ESPN that he made the decision to move Travis Schlenk, then president of basketball operations, into an advisory role in late December because he was displeased with the front office's level of "collaboration and communication" in the wake of consecutive .500 seasons after a trip to the 2021 Eastern Conference finals.
"The relationship between Schlenk and Young has deteriorated over recent months. Issues began following Game 2 of the playoff series against the Miami Heat last year. In the return to Atlanta, Young chartered a private flight and did not inform the team, according to several people familiar with the situation. In the middle of the playoffs, Young was fined."