The Atlanta Hawks have struggled throughout the 2023-24 NBA season -- they currently sit six games below .500 and seven games back of the playoff line. Yet for what has been a year of disappointing year, there has been one bright spot on this team and it's the emergence of Jalen Johnson.
There could be wholesale changes coming to the Hawks' roster this summer, but one player who will be off limits is the upstart young forward
"[Jalen], prior to the sprained ankle on Wednesday night against Cleveland, I think you can make the argument that he has been solidly the Hawks' number two," Mike Conti said in an interview with The Steakhouse about the confidence that Johnson's been playing with this season.
Johnson is still only 22-years-old and just starting to develop as a professional basketball player. He is still developing his outside shot, but the athleticism, defense, and ability to get in front of the rim are second-to-none on this roster. When you add in the level of confidence to the natural improvements he's going to make in the coming years, the sky could be the limit for him.
His relationship with Trae Young has only made him a more valuable asset to the offense.
"I think you see a real chemistry that has developed [between Young and Johnson]," Conti said.
Steak agreed, "And if you're looking for who will be the Robin to Trae's Batman, [then] it's not Dejounte Murray. It's Jalen Johnson."
That gets us into where the Hawks will stand when we hit the summer. We can only assume that big changes are coming to the team, but we just don't know what -- and one would think that "Batman" would be the most un-tradeable member of the roster, right?
Trae is certainly the best player on this team, but if the team chooses to enter a rebuild then he would logically become one of the first members of the roster to be dealt. One player that is increasingly unlikely to move, however, is the Hawks' budding star in Jalen Johnson.
"If I were to put money on just one player to be back next year, it's Jalen Johnson," Conti finished, to which Steak agreed, "Jalen Johnson is the most untouchable guy. That's it."
