Grading Atlanta Hawks rookie Jalen Johnson’s season to the All-Star break

The Atlanta Hawks took Jalen Johnson with Pick No. 20 in the 2021 NBA draft. He fell to this pick due to the issues he had through college, leaving Duke early, playing just 13 games in the 2020-21 season. He started eight of these games and averaged 11.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 21.4 minutes per game.

After being drafted , the Hawks have shown a reluctance to play their rookies despite having a poor start to the season thanks to injury issues and the COVID-19 crisis. For this to change the Hawks need to have a complete rethink on their philosophy on playing rookies.

This season is not about development for the varsity squad, this means that Johnson has played the majority of it in the G League. The majority of time that he has played in the NBA has been junk time. He has played 14 games for the Hawks, averaging 1.8 points and 1.1 rebounds in only 4.6 minutes per game.

The Atlanta Hawks need to develop Jalen Johnson

While Johnson is spending time in the G League the Hawks are missing the opportunity to develop on an NBA court. However, he is showing great strides in his development. Not only is he developing a level of consistency, he is also showing the maturity to hit the game winner against the Long Island Nets last month.

In the eight games that Johnson has played for the College Park Skyhawks he has averaged 17.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 0.6 steals in 17.1 minutes per game. However, it is not just the raw stats that defing Johnson, the offense runs through him when he is on the court and the Skyhawks look a much better outfit.

The biggest drawback for Johnson is that he was out once this season due to contracting Covid-19, once due to an ankle injury, and once due to slipping on the floor. The Hawks should not be worried about these injuries as they are all impact, not degenerative type injuries.

If you look at Johnson’s raw numbers in the NBA then this season would not receive a pass mark. However, Johnson has shown some positive signs about wanting to play more and develop in the G League which is exactly what he has done. The mark does go down a little due to not playing for the Hawks enough.

All-Star Break Grade: B-