On draft night in 2018, the Atlanta Hawks executed what has become one of the most consequential trades in recent NBA history. The Hawks held the third overall pick and used it to select a young European guard by the name of Luka Doncic who many believed had superstar potential. Two picks later though, then GM Travis Schlenk executed a pick swap with the Dallas Mavericks, who had just selected another promising young guard by the name of Trae Young.
Fast forward six years, and Young has blossomed into one of the best guards in the NBA. That being said, he’s largely been overshadowed by his counterpart in that fateful trade, with Doncic becoming a top-three player in the league. Just last season we saw Doncic lead his team to the NBA Finals for the first time, finishing top three in MVP voting in the process.
While Doncic has certainly become the better player, this doesn’t mean the Hawks have been left empty-handed. It was only three years ago that we saw Young carry the Hawks to the brink of their first Finals appearance in Atlanta. Young has the ability to be the guy on a championship-winning roster, he just has to have the right co-star.
This is where the Hawks have largely failed. They have tried multiple times to pair Young with a co-star, but none have panned out. 2017 draft selection John Collins was supposed to fill this role, and while we saw flashes of what the two could become, Collins never really developed past a solid role player. 2019 selection De’Andre Hunter has been a step up from Collins, but it appears he’s reached his ceiling.
Following an early playoff exit in 2022, the Hawks decided to look outside the organization to fill this role. Newly minted GM Landry Fields made his first big move, trading several first-round picks and Danilo Gallinari to the Spurs for all-star shooting guard Dejounte Murray. The move puzzled many, as pairing the undersized Young with another ball-dominant guard seemed like poor roster construction.
Two years later, the Murray experiment has proven to be a failure. The disgruntled guard was sent off to New Orleans in exchange for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and a first-round pick. Many outsiders looked at this latest development as an abject failure for the Hawks. Those who were paying a bit more attention to the team, however, knew that the player they were looking for all along was already on the roster.
Jalen Johnson was drafted 20th overall in 2021 by the Hawks. It took a couple of seasons for the young wing to acclimate to the NBA, but last season was his coming out party. As the Hawks’ third option for most of the year, Johnson averaged 16 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists on .511/.355/.728 shooting splits. Johnson shined during Young’s 30-game absence due to injury, at times taking over entire games.
This leap by Johnson was enough for the Hawk’s brass to go all in on the wing, signing him to a five-year, $150 million deal right before the season. It’s a big gamble, but the Hawks believe Johnson possesses all the necessary traits to become a superstar. Coincidentally, these traits also make him the perfect fit next to Trae.
Only time will tell if Johnson is everything Atlanta hopes he becomes. One thing is for certain though, the potential is there. If Johnson can take that next step, then Atlanta will have the next dominant duo in the NBA.
