On draft evening in 2018, the Atlanta Hawks accomplished what has change into regarded as one of basically the most consequential trades in contemporary NBA ancient past. The Hawks held the third total rating and conventional it to rating a younger European guard by the title of Luka Doncic who many believed had extensive title skill. Two picks later though, then GM Travis Schlenk accomplished a rating swap with the Dallas Mavericks, who had simply selected every other promising younger guard by the title of Trae Young.
Quickly forward six years, and Young has blossomed into regarded as one of many correct guards in the NBA. That being acknowledged, he’s largely been overshadowed by his counterpart in that fateful alternate, with Doncic changing into a top-three participant in the league. Goal excellent season we seen Doncic lead his team to the NBA Finals for the first time, finishing top three in MVP voting in the process.
While Doncic has undoubtedly change into the upper participant, this doesn’t imply the Hawks delight in been left empty-handed. It used to be simplest three years ago that we seen Young elevate the Hawks to the brink of their first Finals look in Atlanta. Young has the flexibility to be the particular person on a championship-winning roster, he simply has to delight in the excellent co-extensive title.
This is where the Hawks delight in largely failed. They’ve tried just a few cases to pair Young with a co-extensive title, but none delight in panned out. 2017 draft selection John Collins used to be presupposed to own this characteristic, and while we seen flashes of what the 2 would perchance well also change into, Collins never in actuality developed past a stable characteristic participant. 2019 selection De’Andre Hunter has been a step up from Collins, but it appears to be like he’s reached his ceiling.
Following an early playoff exit in 2022, the Hawks determined to gaze starting up air the group to own this characteristic. Newly minted GM Landry Fields made his first gigantic trail, procuring and selling several first-round picks and Danilo Gallinari to the Spurs for all-extensive title shooting guard Dejounte Murray. The trail puzzled many, as pairing the undersized Young with every other ball-dominant guard gave the look of bad roster construction.
Two years later, the Murray experiment has proven to be a failure. The disgruntled guard used to be sent off to Unique Orleans in alternate for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and a first-rate-round rating. Many outsiders seemed at this most up-to-the-minute type as an abject failure for the Hawks. These that had been paying a petite bit extra consideration to the team, alternatively, knew that the participant they had been shopping for all alongside used to be already on the roster.
Jalen Johnson used to be drafted 20th total in 2021 by the Hawks. It took just a few seasons for the younger flit to acclimate to the NBA, but excellent season used to be his coming out celebration. Because the Hawks’ third option for many of the year, Johnson averaged 16 sides, 8.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists on .511/.355/.728 shooting splits. Johnson shined at some level of Young’s 30-sport absence due to the hurt, at cases taking on entire games.
This bounce by Johnson used to be ample for the Hawk’s brass to trail all in on the flit, signing him to a five-year, $150 million deal excellent before the season. It’s a huge gamble, however the Hawks assume Johnson possesses the entire compulsory traits to vary into a extensive title. Coincidentally, these traits also make him the correct fit subsequent to Trae.
Most efficient time will show if Johnson is all the pieces Atlanta hopes he turns into. One thing is certain though, the skill is there. If Johnson can rating that subsequent step, then Atlanta can delight in the next dominant duo in the NBA.
