Atlanta Hawks: 4 takeaways from the Summer League opener

Atlanta Hawks Summer Leaguetakeaway No. 1: We got a reminder of just how good the draft was

We’ve been raving about the Hawks draft class since draft night and the players selected for even longer. In their first action as NBA players, Jalen Johnson made his first argument for being the steal of the draft while Sharife Cooper proved his slide was too far. Both were the stars of the afternoon, just as they should be.

Johnson kicked off the scoring for the afternoon with a simple leaner. It began an early Hawks run and likely helped the rookie to settle in after a couple of misses by both teams to start.

The 6-foot-9 Johnson showed a little bit of everything as he rebounded well, played tough defense, and was generally everywhere on both ends of the floor.

He finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson also had a pair of dimes, a steal, and a block.

Perhaps most encouraging is that he continued his efficient, albeit low-volume, perimeter shooting going 1-for-2 from outside (8-for-12 overall).

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1424493319413977094

He needs to clean up the turnovers — he had five of the Hawks 19 — and play with more control.

A couple of his fouls were simply the result of being overly aggressive, though the Hawks don’t necessarily want him to tone that down.

Cooper was shaky early as well, committing two of his six turnovers in the first quarter. He would return after subbing out much more settled and went on to put up 11 points and six assists while grabbing a pair of boards. Most impressive was his ability to put consistent pressure on the defense when attacking the basket.

The homegrown product went 5-for-11 from the floor, but missed his only attempt from the outside; a corner three that came before he settled in. Again though, his ability to finish through contact and over larger defenders stood out above all else.