Could this be Jalen Johnson's Big Breakout Season?

Could Johnson be the Hawks best player?

In an article by our own Rohan Raman, he discussed the possibility of Johnson becoming the Hawks best player this season, and had this to say:

"To be clear, this is not a slight of Trae Young. Despite a lack of recognition, Young is one of the ten best offensive engines in basketball and just led the NBA in assists. He's an incredibly gifted playmaker and his gravity as both a scorer and passer allows for Atlanta to consistently put up good offensive numbers. It'd be ridiculous to say that this version of Johnson is a better player than Young.

However, Johnson's skillset might be just as rare. Finding a power forward who can shoot is difficult. Finding one that isn't a liability on defense is even harder. Finding one who can actually handle the ball and make plays for others is almost impossible. "

Based on the skill set that Johnson has, he can have a breakout season this year. I believe he will, as he is coming off a season where he converted a career high 72% of his attempts at the basket, putting him second best on the team, and he was the team's second best playmaker behind Young with an average assist percentage of 20.4%. Atlanta's record with Johnson in the lineup was 22-19 compared to an 18-23 record without him, to finish the season with a 40-42 record and ultimately missing the playoffs.

For Johnson to leap for a breakout season this year, he will need to work on his three-point shot, as he finished last season, shooting 31.2% from three-point range. Another area he could work on is his ability to defend consistently, as his defensive rating of 112.5 is around league average. However, the Hawks have done their due diligence to add defensive talent to the team to help out Johnson, who will likely be relied upon as a help defender and rim protector, as he averaged one block and over 1.5 steals per game last season.

According to basketball reference, Johnson's projected stats for next season are 18.1 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 4.5 APG, 1.4 SPG, and 1.0 BPG. This would give Johnson around similar type stats as he had last season, however, if you include this with a winning Hawks team, this could be the year we see Johnson make the leap forward into All-Star status along with Kristaps Porzingis and Young. Another reason to be optimistic is that Johnson was seen working out with Lakers superstar Lebron James, which had social media buzzing with the potential of Johnson having a breakout season.

Regardless of how this season plays out for the Hawks, Johnson will remain a potential franchise cornerstone as he gives the team realistic hopes of competing in a weakened Eastern Conference. However, this could be a chance for Johnson to cement his name in future stars of the NBA conversations as well by becoming an All-Star and staying healthy.

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