If you had told me at the start of the season that Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis would only play a combined 27 games and both be traded, I would have guessed the Hawks were in for a rough season. Against all odds, however, the team traded its "two best players" and has only gotten better, thanks to supersized contributions from Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Atlanta is currently 12-1 in their last 13 games, soaring from the ninth seed to the sixth seed.
In his most recent award projections, Zach Haper of The Athletic had Alexander-Walker first and Jalen Johnson third on his Most Improved Player ballot, citing their respective excellence in increased roles.
Jalen Johnson became the star we all thought he could be
Johnson has been one of the NBA’s most underrated developmental stories, playing just 120 minutes in his rookie year and spending most of his time in the G League. He cracked the big league rotation the following season, but averaged just 5.6 points and 4.0 rebounds in 15 minutes a game. In his third year, Johnson showed glimpses of becoming the star the Hawks saw when they drafted him, dropping 16.0 PPG and 8.7 RPG in an injury-shortened season. In his fourth season, however, just as he was about to break out, Johnson tore his labrum and played just 36 games.
Now in his fifth season, with a five-year, $150 million contract in effect, Johnson has become an elite offensive engine. He’s averaging 22.7 PPG, 10.4 RPG, and a jaw-dropping 8.0 APG along with 1.3 STL. He leads all forwards in potential assists per 100 possessions and is second in defensive rebound percentage, only to all-time great rebounder (and the beneficiary of a small sample size) Kevin Love.Â
Ironically, Johnson’s scoring is his weakest attribute of the “big three” stats: points, rebounds, and assists. Now that he finally has some scoring help in the starting lineup in the form of CJ McCollum, Johnson has thrived in a slightly reduced scoring role that has allowed his other strengths to shine through.
Hawks in trouble without Trae? NAW
Nickeil Alexander-Walker has also had quite the breakout season, but unlike Johnson’s, nobody was expecting this. The Hawks were praised when they signed him to a four-year, $60 million contract; Alexander-Walker had built a reputation as a relentless 3-and-D wing, sharing sixth man duties with Naz Reid in Minnesota. He was expected to fill the same role in Atlanta, backing up a starting guard duo of Trae Young and Dyson Daniels.
When Young went down with an injury in the fifth game of the season, Alexander-Walker was thrust into a starting combo guard role alongside Daniels. He rose to the occasion, raising his PPG from 9.4 to 20.3 while shooting 38.9% from three on 8.0 attempts per game. His defense has remained strong and is a key component of a surprisingly strong Hawks defense.
Alexander-Walker went from a sixth man to the heir-apparent to Derrick White’s title of best non-star player in the league. The NBA landscape has shifted to value the little things after watching the failures of every “big three” since the 2011-14 Miami Heat; Alexander-Walker winning MIP, an award traditionally awarded to primary scoring options, would make sense given the overall shift towards “blue collar” players, dubbed by Hawks reporter David Lee.
Atlanta struck gold this season with their pair of in-season improvements.