The Atlanta Hawks have a clear goal: Help Jalen Johnson. He’s their best player. The guy who has the best chance at leading them to their next championship. Maybe he’ll need a co-star at some point down the line (it seems likely), but in the meantime, they need to put good supporting pieces around him. And they’ve sneakily done a good job putting three-point floor-spacing around him heading into this season.
It’s only been a few preseason games, and you can’t learn everything from the preseason. It’s hard to learn much from the preseason, to be honest. But the Hawks have a bunch of players who are more than comfortable letting it fly from deep range, and most of them are very effective three-point threats.
For Johnson, a guy who thrives as a driver and is great at kicking out, that’s the exact type of infrastructure he should want.
Hawks have surrounded Jalen Johnson with underrated floor spacing
The Hawks were a pretty solid three-point shooting team last year. But this season, they’ve done an even better job of stacking three-point shooters up and down the roster around Johnson.
Trading for Aaron Wiggins was super smart. He looks like the type of player who can help take the Hawks’ offense to another level, especially with Johnson still leading the way.
Rookie guard Kingston Flemings looks like a piece the Hawks need to invest in moving forward. He’s looking like a guy who should be able to nail some threes for Atlanta, too. Corey Kispert is a solid shooter, too.
Obviously, Nickeil Alexander-Walker is a great shooter. He’s going to be one of the Hawks’ top shot creators next year, and he’s a more-than-reliable threat from beyond the arc, on or off the ball.
But perhaps one of the most intriguing parts about the Hawks’ roster is the fact that their big-man rotation can shoot, too. That will give Johnson some fun pick-and-pop options to work with.
Onyeka Okongwu has proven to be comfortable as a shooter, and in the Hawks’ final preseason game, backup big man Jock Landale drained three of his four three-point attempts.
If those two guys can be legitimate three-point threats for the Hawks next year, it will ensure that they have an adequate number of three-point threats on the floor at all times.
That will be crucial for Johnson, Alexander-Walker, and Dyson Daniels. In today’s NBA, you need as much floor spacing as possible to succeed on the offensive end, and the Hawks have set their stars up well.
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