The Atlanta Hawks are going to learn a lot about Jalen Johnson this upcoming season

When the Atlanta Hawks traded Trae Young to the Washington Wizards, they unofficially passed the torch to Jalen Johnson to be the face of the franchise. Johnson has been a great success story for Atlanta, going from a talented draft prospect who fell into their lap to making his first All-Star team last season and his first All-NBA selection. He was counted on as the No. 1 option night in and night out, and he responded well.

But being the No. 1 option for a team with legitimate playoff hopes is not easy, and Johnson found that out the hard way against the New York Knicks. New York had one of the greatest runs in NBA history on their way to the championship, but Johnson still would have liked to have had a better showing than he did against OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and the rest of the Knicks' elite defense.

In the six game series against New York, Johnson averaged 19.5 PPG (down from his regular season numbers), 7.7 RPG (down from the regular season), and 5.2 APG (down from the regular season). He shot 43.5% from the field and 29% from three and seemed to not be as aggressive as one would imagine a No. 1 option to be.

But it was his first series as the top option and he was going against an elite team and the Hawks were far from a perfect team. They had remade their team on the fly at the trade deadline and their starting five was one of the NBA's best down the stretch of the season, but this team lacked the toughness and depth to play with the best teams in the NBA.

After their humiliating loss to the Knicks in game six of the series, there was some doubt seeping in from the Hawks fanbase about whether Johnson was good enough to be the No. 1 guy on a team with growing aspirations. For Atlanta to get where they want to as an organization, could Johnson be the top guys leading them there?

NBA teams are not built as top-heavy as they used to be and you need to have around 8-9 guys you trust in the postseason, but you are not going to win without one of the elite players in the league. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, and others have won championships this decade as the No. 1 guys.

Atlanta is going to get a chance to evaluate Johnson as the top guy for a full season in 2026-2027.

Better team

Jalen Johnson Celtic — Mar 30, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) works past Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) in the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mady Mertens-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Given the late run in the season, the amount of young talent the Hawks have, and the draft picks they have available to trade, some wondered if the Hawks would be aggressive and try to go and get a star player to pair with Johnson since they were unable to jump into the top four of this loaded 2026 draft, but the Hawks said from the start that they were not going skip steps in their building process and they wanted to get younger in the draft.

They did just that by taking Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor, and Henri Veesaar.

Atlanta brought back CJ McCollum, who was the Hawks biggest star in the postseason after coming over from the Wizards, and Jock Landale. They made opportunistic moves to land Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins from the Oklahoma City Thunder, they acquired Devin Carter and Ryan Nembhard to give their guard position depth, and they picked up the team option for Mouhamed Gueye.

Atlanta still has roster moves to make, as they are at 17 rostered players and the limit is 15, but those decisions will come in time.

This team is better and Atlanta is going to get another data point as to whether or not Johnson can lead this team to heightened success in the postseason.

The Hawks have become a forgotten team this offseason because they did not make any major moves in the offseason like so many teams in the Eastern Conference did. The Knicks are still the Knicks, Philly added Jaylen Brown and LeBron James, Toronto is likely to acquire Kawhi Leonard (I think?), Tyrese Haliburton is back to lead the Pacers, Cleveland is bringing back their core and just added Peyton Watson, Miami traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and don't forget about the Pistons, who won 60 games last season.

For the first time in a long time, the Eastern Conference looks deeper than the Western Conference.

With the amount of expiring contracts the Hawks have opn their books, they have enough to add up to go and get any player in a trade if they become available, as well as draft capital. Atlanta could also let those contracts expire and have a large amount of cap space next offseason where they could evaluate their team and the star player landscape.

But what kind of player Atlanta targets might depend on the kind of season Johnson has. Does Atlanta feel the need to be aggressive and chase after a superstar or do they find a sidekick to the No. 1 option they already have?

Atlanta is never going to make a trade for the sake of making a trade, but Johnson, Daniels, Okongwu, and NAW are not going to be on favorable deals for forever and the time to strike might be getting close for Atlanta to make a push to be a contender, while also being sustainable.

Atlanta has created the kind of optionality they craved, but Johnson may have the keys to what the front office plans to do going forward.

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