Hawks star to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery

Johnson suffered the injury last Thursday in the second quarter of a game vs. Toronto while defending Raptors forward Scottie Barnes.

It’s an extremely unfortunate turn of events for the Hawks and for Johnson, who had averaged 18.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks in 35.7 minutes per game so far this season.

The fourth-year forward, who made 50.0 percent of his shots from the field in 36 outings this season, looked like a borderline All-Star candidate and a contender for Most Improved Player votes.

Johnson was a key contributor for an Atlanta team that exceeded expectations in the first half of the season. The Hawks were 22-19 at the midway point. However, they’ve lost their last six games in a row and now sit ninth in the Eastern Conference at 22-25.

While they still look like a strong candidate to be a play-in team, not having Johnson for the rest of the season will put a damper on the Hawks’ chances of making the playoffs. It could also impact how the front office approaches the trade deadline, though the team doesn’t control its first-round pick, which will be sent to San Antonio, and won’t be motivated to lose games.

With Johnson unavailable for the rest of the season, the Hawks figure to lean more heavily on forwards Zaccharie Risacher and De’Andre Hunter, with David Roddy and Larry Nance Jr. among the reserves who could move up the depth chart and see more regular playing time. However, as Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks tweets, there’s no one on the roster capable of stepping in and replicating what Johnson did for the club on both ends of the floor.

Atlanta won’t be eligible to apply for a disabled player exception to replace Johnson since the deadline to request a DPE was Jan. 15.

Johnson would have been eligible for restricted free agency this coming season if he hadn’t agreed to terms on a rookie scale extension with the Hawks just ahead of the October deadline. He signed a five-year, $150M deal that will go into effect for the 2025-26 season.