The Atlanta Hawks may have lost an NBA All-Star in Dejounte Murray when they traded him away during the offseason, but the move also created an opportunity for Jalen Johnson to prove he too has the potential to become a star in the league himself. 

The 22-year-old forward, now in his fourth campaign in the NBA, is in the midst of the best season of his young career. Through his first 22 games this season, Johnson is averaging 20.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks–all of which are career-high numbers.

In fact, if Johnson can manage to bump up his rebounding average to 10 per game, he will join an elite group of players who are averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists this season. There are only three members of this club at the moment–Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Domantas Sabonis–and the fact that Johnson is on the cusp of joining these multiple-time NBA All-Stars highlights how well he has played so far this year.

Johnson’s 6’9, 220 lbs frame has made him tough to cover as he can easily overpower smaller forwards and drive past stronger yet slower players. He has not only emerged as Atlanta’s second scoring option on offense, but he has also become their secondary playmaker behind Trae Young. On defense, he has shown that he is capable of covering multiple positions and is one of only eight players (With a minimum of 10 games played this season) averaging at least one steal and one block per game. 

Though Johnson is still in the early stages of his career, he is fearless under the spotlight and appears to elevate his game when the Hawks face the league’s best. Last November 13, Atlanta visited the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics at TD Garden where Johnson was pitted against five-time All-Star Jayson Tatum. He rose to the challenge, recording the second triple-double of his career with 18 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals, and a block, and, more importantly, propelling the Hawks to a hard-fought 117-116 victory.

In Atlanta’s most recent triumph, a statement win over the red-hot Milwaukee Bucks, Johnson delivered another standout performance. Matched up with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Johnson responded with a dominant stat line of 23 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block. The Hawks’ 119-104 victory not only snapped Milwaukee’s seven-game winning streak, but also extended Atlanta’s own run of wins to five games.

This recent surge by the Hawks has pushed them up to sixth place in the tight Eastern Conference standings and they are now only 3.5 games behind the third-seeded Orlando Magic. Johnson’s recent play is a major reason for this and if he can keep up this type of production over these next few weeks, an NBA All-Star game debut might be in the cards for him this coming February. He should figure prominently in this year’s NBA Most Improved Player race as well where he will receive stiff competition from his teammate, Dyson Daniels.

As a team, there are many reasons to be excited for this rebranded Atlanta roster and it will be interesting to see how they handle the upcoming midseason trade deadline. They can realistically make a run to the second round of this year’s postseason, yet a tweak or two to their current roster could push them into contention for a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Johnson has the Hawks soaring once again in the East and for the time being, it looks like the future of Atlanta is secure.