Hawks' lightning-in-a-bottle duo set to dominate NBA this season

Blink and you'll miss them.

Well, almost - Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson were downright ludicrous in transition offense last season. While Atlanta's halfcourt offense could certainly use a boost (here's looking at you, kid from Houston), their play on the break can't get any better.

With everything clicking for the fantastic fastbreak duo last year, one has to wonder - what does the future hold for Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker in Atlanta?

NAW and Johnson's top ranking amongst the best of the best

Taking the entire NBA as a sample size last year, only one player ranked ahead of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson in both transition possessions and transition efficiency - the speedster form Kentucky, Tyrese Maxey.

In fact, only three other players join this trio in the quadrant of wow below - Donovan Mitchell, LeBron James (the usual suspects), and youngster Matas Buzelis from Chicago.

Alexander-Walker and Johnson are truly the perfect duo to fit into any system. On one hand, you have a dynamo physical enforcer that can playmake on the break with ease. On the other, you have arguably the league's best 3&D wing, boasting the speed and agility to dominate on the break alongside his running mate.

Hawks are a piece away from league-wide domination

With NAW and Jalen Johnson boasting two of the very best transition efficiencies in the entire league (on high volume), it's difficult to imagine a world where the two wouldn't be able to flank a legitimate halfcourt engine with even greater degrees of success.

No, I'm not talking about a Trae Young-type player - rather than a heliocentric engine, NAW and Johnson proved to thrive alongside a less ball dominant yet equally offensively crafty player last year in CJ McCollum. The Hawks' infamous "death lineup" featured this spectacular trio alongside Okongwu and Daniels.

While McCollum is great, his future with the Hawks is shaky at best. Signing a one-year extension with the Hawks this summer, it's clear that Onsi envisions a world where CJ spends one more year (or even half-season ending at the trade deadline) mentoring rookie Kingston Flemings to grow into an offensive hub for the Hawks to run halfcourt actions through.

Will Flemings be the answer that Atlanta has been searching for to complement NAW and Johnson? The jury is very much still out - time will tell if Atlanta's lightning duo has already found their long-term partner in the backcourt.

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