Hawks Reportedly View Jalen Johnson As An MVP Candidate, Won't Include Him In Any Giannis Deals

The Atlanta Hawks are playing their best basketball of the season and the player leading them is none other than Jalen Johnson. Johnson has assumed the position of face of the franchise since the trade of Trae Young to the Washington Wizards, and he has taken that title and ran with it.

In Atlanta's most recent outing, a 122-99 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Jalen Johnson secured his Eastern Conference-leading 12th triple-double of the season, finishing with 23 points and game highs of 10 rebounds and 12 assists in 35 minutes. Johnson is one of only two players in the NBA this season averaging at least 23.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists, joining Denver's Nikola Jokic ... The 24-year-old first-time All-Star is set to join Oscar Robertson as the only other player in NBA history under the age of 25 to record those averages in a single season.

MVP Caliber?

Ever since the Hawks made the draft-night trade last summer to acquire the most favorable, unprotected first-round pick from the New Orleans Pelicans, they have been mentioned as a sensible candidate in a trade for Milwaukee superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. The thought was if the Hawks included that pick, along with Johnson, then they could be at the forefront of any trade conversations.

The thing is, the Hawks are not interested in doing that.

According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Hawks view Johnson as an MVP-caliber player and have not entertained trading him, even for Antetokounmpo:

"The Hawks' in-house belief, frankly, is that Johnson has MVP potential. So they were very much covering their ears in December when Johnson's agent, Rich Paul, on his Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman, came out and suggested that the Bucks target Milwaukee native Johnson as the headline return in a deal for The Greek Freak.

"That was probably the first time in my career [hearing] the rumors and stuff like that,” Johnson told The Stein Line. "But I got reassurance from everyone around here that that's not the plan. Obviously it means a lot ... the trust they have in me and the belief they have in me."

Atlanta likewise swatted away in-season trade interest from rival teams (Indiana perhaps loudest among them) in Okongwu."

While he is not going to win the award this year, Johnson has been getting more and more recognition for how the Hawks are playing. In the most recent update of the Kia MVP Ladder, Johnson was moved up to 10th.

Since the All-Star Break, the Hawks have been arguably the best team in the NBA.

The Hawks are riding a season-best nine-game winning streak into Monday's game, the longest active winning streak in the NBA and the club's longest winning streak since their franchise-record 19-game winning streak during the 2014-15 campaign (12/27/14-1/31/15). Atlanta is the sixth team in the NBA this season to have a winning streak of nine or more games. Over the team's nine-game winning streak, Atlanta is averaging 122.8 points, 49.4 rebounds (14.0 offensive), 30.2 assists, and 10.7 steals, winning by an average of +18.8 points.

Defensively over the past nine games, the Hawks have held their opponents to just 104.0 points per game (936 total points). Per Stathead, it's the first time since the 2021-22 season (11/15-21-12/3/21) the club has held their opponent to fewer than 940 total points over a nine-game span. This season, the Hawks have held their opponent to under 100 points eight times, the most such games in a single season since 2021-22 (9), with four of those eight games coming during Atlanta's nine-game winning streak.

The Hawks might not be title contenders this season, but they are getting a look at how things look with Johnson running the show and what they are seeing should give the front office and coaching staff plenty of confidence in their belief in the young forward.