Atlanta Hawks enter rebuilding mode prior to 2017 NBA Draft

The Atlanta Hawks sent a clear message with the trade of Dwight Howard Tuesday night: the team is preparing for a major rebuilding period.

Any questions of the intentions of the Atlanta Hawks for the off seasons were clearly answered late Tuesday night.

By sending Dwight Howard and the 31st overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft to Charlotte in exchange for Miles Plumlee, Marco Belinelli and the 41st overall pick, the franchise essentially announced it has entered a rebuilding phase.

In the 54 days since being eliminated by Washington in the opening round of the playoffs, the franchise has undergone a dramatic reshaping of its front office, essentially stated power forward Paul Millsap will fare better elsewhere in free agency this summer and now has dealt away Howard.

Mike Budenholzer resigned as president of basketball operations to focus solely on his head coaching duties, general manager Wes Wilcox has been reassigned within the organization and Travis Schlenk was brought in from Golden State to take over his position.

Instead of waiting for the Warriors to complete their run at the 2017 NBA championship, he immediately joined the Hawks to begin preparations for a hectic offseason.

Among the primary dilemmas facing Schlenk were the free agencies of Millsap, an All-Star each of the past four seasons, Tim Hardaway Jr. and the future of Howard with the team.

Schlenk told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Millsap “might get better offers than we can make him.”

The Hawks could potentially offer him a five-year, $205 million deal, but Schlenk revealed that likely isn’t going to happen, even after Millsap posted 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. All figures ranked either first or second for the team during the 2016-17 campaign.

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The statement relayed the message that the Atlanta Hawks simply weren’t planning on running back a team that finished 43-39, the fifth-best record in the Eastern Conference. Any team with maximum cap space this summer could present Millsap, a 32-year-old player with 11 years of experience, a four-year, $152 million contract.

If Atlanta chooses to pass on him, the organization will need to completely rebuild from one of the most successful tenures in franchise history.

While the team managed to qualify for the postseason for the 10th consecutive year, some major issues were revealed during its first round exit in the playoffs.

The Hawks simply couldn’t play Howard for significant portions of the second half out of fear of his free throw shooting and the uptempo style of play Washington employed.

Howard expressed his frustrations about his limited playing time, as he averaged just 26 minutes per game in the six game series during his exit interview.

Less than three months later, he was shipped off to Charlotte.

At first, the move sounds like one completed to generate cap space for Atlanta, but with Miles Plumlee due to receive $12.5 million for each of the next three seasons, all the Hawks truly managed was to create a $4.3 million trade exception.

Howard is slated to receive $23.5 million each of the next two seasons and did pull down 12.5 rebounds per game, the fifth-highest average in the league.

The figure marked the 13th straight season Howard has averaged 10 or more rebounds per game, tying him with Bill Russell, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan for the third-most 10-rebound campaigns in league history.

Only Howard’s fit with the team didn’t quite seem right, leading him to announce on ESPN’s The Jump that he was going to develop his three-point shot during the summer.

The notion was a laughable one, considering Howard has converted just five of 56 career attempts from three-point range (8.9 percent) and he hasn’t shot above 60 percent at the foul line since his rookie season.

Howard’s jump shot has never been part of his game. Last season he attempted just 92 jumpers, connecting just 22.8 percent of the time.

Instead of figuring out a way to build around Howard, the team sent him to another team within the division simply to rid him off the salary cap, even if the haul in return was underwhelming.

The Atlanta Hawks were already in possession of two other trade exceptions, one worth $3.3 million and the other valued at $2.2 million.

Trade exceptions will allow the Hawks to acquire more salary in trades, meaning on draft night a pick can be sent away for a player with a salary within the range of each exception.

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Following the removal of Howard from its roster, the Atlanta Hawks have $59.6 million committed for next season and enters free agency with over $27.6 million in cap space.

Unless the team makes another move, the first addition to the roster will come with the 19th overall pick. Mock drafts had the Hawks selecting a potential backup for Howard, but instead, the team will likely be choosing a player to compete for the starting center position against Plumlee.

Atlanta has two second round selections, at No. 41 and closing out the evening by choosing 60th overall.

The primary question surrounding Schlenk’s first draft with the Atlanta Hawks is if the players he was choosing were going to be part of a fringe contender in the Eastern Conference, or the first steps of a rebuilding effort.

Next: NBA Trade Grades - Hornets acquire Howard from Hawks

Less than 48 hours before the draft began, the question was answered by sending Howard off to Charlotte.