The Atlanta Hawks had a stroke of luck in the 2021 NBA draft. Jalen Johnson did indeed fall to them late in the first round and they pounced on the opportunity to select the incredibly versatile forward out of Duke.
Johnson then had an incredibly frustrating season. He managed to play 22 games for the Hawks averaging 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5.5 minutes per game. He did not show what he was truly capable of for the varsity squad with the exception of when John Collins was out. The rookie started to find his footing in the NBA until his luck ran out, going out with injury.
The thing about Johnson is that he is so multi-talented, that he struggled to find a place within the team. He needs to follow the right development path in the coming season, and if he can do this then he will start playing more for the Hawks.
The Atlanta Hawks will benefit from Jalen Johnson developing in the G League
When Johnson started playing for the College Park Skyhawks, he was inefficient and struggled to have an impact on the Skyhawks being able to win games. Then he started to show that he was willing to learn, even taking a game-winner, which showed how much he was willing to take a team on his shoulders.
Still, despite not playing enough in the NBA last season, Johnson should have had another Summer League under his belt but had to have a non-surgical procedure on his knee. He will be back for training camp before, hopefully, establishing his place in the Hawks rotations. Now let’s look at the three goals for Johnson this season.
3 goals for Atlanta Hawks’ sophomore Jalen Johnson No. 1) Not play in the G League
Johnson spent a good part of the season playing for the College Park Skyhawks. There were calls by websites and fans for him to get some time with the varsity squad. However, coach Nate McMillan is more conservative than other coaches, he preferred Johnson to develop in the G League.
There was even a time when the Hawks were suffering from their yearly injury issues that Johnson could have gone on the road with the Hawks. He knew that there was little chance of getting playing time on the road trip so he decided to play with the Skyhawks, citing better development opportunities.
This showed a tremendous level of maturity of last season’s first-round pick. He grew so much as a player and a person last season. Now that he has shown the growth potential from last season, there is a good chance that he stays with the Hawks all season.
That needs to be the goal for Johnson, to stay with the varsity squad all season and not go back to the G League. If he can do this then he is a much better chance of garnering more and more court time throughout the season.
3 goals for Atlanta Hawks’ sophomore Jalen Johnson No. 2) Take on a role and own it.
As mentioned earlier, the Hawks need to follow the right development path for Johnson. The way that McMillan likes to develop his younger players is to send them out with a task and then wait until he has mastered that to McMillan’s satisfaction before the coach gives him another.
For Johnson, who has such an amazing ability to fill up the box score, he needs to have complete focus on one skill for him to give the team an advantage. Given that the Hawks lost Danilo Gallinari via trade over the offseason, it would be sensible for Johnson to take one of the veterans’ roles from last season.
If Johnson is going to garner playing time over the newly signed Frank Kaminsky, he needs to offer the second unit most of the 4.7 rebounds per game that Gallinari gave the squad. If he takes on the role of finishing the defensive possession then he will be able to do more on the offensive end.
This is where he needs to take another leaf out of Gallinari’s playbook. The second unit basically played through the big Italian last season, he touched the ball on most offensive possessions. Johnson is a tremendous playmaker who the Skyhawks played through last season. If he can own that role for the second unit, he will enjoy more playing time.
3 goals for Atlanta Hawks’ sophomore Jalen Johnson No. 3) Establish himself in the rotation.
With the changes that the Hawks had made over the offseason, the only players who played significant bench minutes last season were Bogdan Bogdanovic and Onyeka Okongwu. This means that the rotations will not be set until part way through the season.
Johnson is going to have the opportunity to show the coaching staff that he deserves to be given playing time. Again, if he can produce the fundamentals, helping to end the defensive possession and keeping the ball moving on offense then he will get playing time.
Bleacher Report suggested that the Hawks’ biggest weakness on their roster was the lack of a veteran point guard. However, if you look at the roster, the Hawks are very small at the power forward position behind John Collins.
Johnson has been in the Hawks system for a year now. However, he is coming up against the veteran players of Maurice Harkless and Kaminsky who know how to perform a role in the NBA. Johnson will be champing at the bit for training camp to start so that he can show why the Hawks selected him last season and that he is worth giving playing time to.