Jalen Johnson Predicted To Overtake Trae Young as the Hawks' Best Player in the Near Future

If Johnson were to ever overtake Young as the Hawks best player, that would be speak well to Atlanta's championship aspirations. Young is polarizing, but he is one of the best offensive engines and players in the NBA, creating offense single-handedly.

Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes thinks Johnson will be the Hawks best player in three years:

"Johnson landing here requires a few assumptions. The first is that Trae Young won't begin the 2028-29 campaign with the Atlanta Hawks. He's only under contract through next season, and the All-Star point guard hasn't been a stranger to trade talk during his career.

Another assumption: Zaccharie Risacher's billing as an excellent role player whose skills don't suggest stardom will prove accurate.

That leaves Johnson, a wildly athletic forward who, unlike Risacher and Young, is actually under contract for 2028-29. That helps his case, as does last year's pre-injury production of 18.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. If the 35.5 percent three-point shooting Johnson flashed in 2023-24 returns this coming season, an All-Star trip could be in the cards.

By 2028, Johnson will be 27, smack in the middle of his prime and earning just $30 million."

Special season on the way?

This is not the first time that Johnson has received this prediction. Our own Rohan Raman laid out the case in an article:

"If Johnson is an elite defender and rebounder (10+ rebounds per game) while being a great passer (6+ assists per game) and good scorer (20+ points per game), he'd have an argument for being the best player on the 2025-26 Hawks due to all-around impact. Trae might still have him beat due to his offensive gravity, but respectfully, there isn't a world where he's more than a neutral presence on defense. The potential for Johnson to be additive on defense is critical for both his future and the Hawks' ceiling next season.

The numbers bear out that Johnson already took a leap from the 2023-24 season to make himself into a solid defender. His secondary rim protection was better - he improved in rim points saved per 100 possessions, averaging 1.1 points saved (85th percentile) up from 0.4 (76th percentile) and opponents shot 7% worse at the rim due to his presence (82nd percentile). He also upped his steal numbers to 2 per game (82nd percentile) from 1.7 (72nd percentile). However, the biggest growth in his defense was in his efficacy on contesting shots as a perimeter defender last year. Despite his length and athleticism, Johnson actually hasn't been all that effective on closeouts for most of his career. Opponents barely shot worse when Johnson closed out on them - he finished in the 63rd percentile for FG% differential while closing out. That drastically changed in 2024-25. Opposing players shot 3.8% worse from the field when Johnson closed out on them, good for the 91st percentile among all forwards.

Suffice to say, it's ridiculous that Jalen Johnson would barely be considered a top-100 player in the NBA by any metric. He needs to stay healthy and he hasn't reached his potential yet, but there's a slim chance the Hawks have already found a worthy successor to Trae Young's mantle if Young leaves Atlanta next offseason."

If Johnson stays healthy, he could begin to make a case as an All-NBA player and perhaps the best player on the Hawks.

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