Hawks GM Landry Fields: Defensive identity is 'reason why we haven't taken that step'

The Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, but new general manager Landry Fields says the team will need to step up its play defensively if it hopes to become a legitimate contender.

"The identity defensively has been, well that's something we're going to have to build into," Fields said Monday, via ESPN. "That's been part of the reason why we haven't taken that step. We have to have an everyday hard-hat approach to our defensive capabilities."

The Hawks finished the 2021-22 season averaging 113.9 points per game, sixth most in the NBA. But on the defensive side of the ball, Atlanta allowed 112.4 points per game, 10th most in the league and second-worst among teams that made the playoffs.

Atlanta lost in the first round in five games against the Miami Heat and couldn't do much to slow down Jimmy Butler. The Heat forward averaged 30.5 points in the series and led Miami to at least 110 points in each of the four games he played against the Hawks.

According to Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer, the Hawks could address those defensive issues by trading to acquire Rudy Gobert, a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, from the Utah Jazz. Fischer says some combination of Clint Capela, John Collins, Kevin Huerter, and the No. 16 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft could be sent to Utah as part of a deal to land Gobert.

In May, Hawks owner Tony Ressler said the team "should have tried to get better rather than bring back" the same players during a complacent 2021 offseason.

Fields, 33, spent two seasons as the Hawks' assistant GM before he was promoted last week. Prior to his career as an executive, Fields played for New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors.