If you had told me at the start of the season that Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis would only play a combined 27 games and both be traded, I would have guessed the Hawks were in for a rough season. Against all odds, however, the team traded its "two best players" and has only gotten better, thanks to supersized contributions from Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Atlanta is currently 12-1 in their last 13 games, soaring from the ninth seed to the sixth seed.
In his most recent award projections, Zach Haper of The Athletic had Alexander-Walker first and Jalen Johnson third on his Most Improved Player ballot, citing their respective excellence in increased roles.
Jalen Johnson became the star we all thought he could be
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Johnson has been one of the NBA’s most underrated developmental stories, playing just 120 minutes in his rookie year and spending most of his time in the G League. He cracked the big league rotation the following season, but averaged just 5.6 points and 4.0 rebounds in 15 minutes a game. In his third year, Johnson showed glimpses of becoming the star the Hawks saw when they drafted him, dropping 16.0 PPG and 8.7 RPG in an injury-shortened season. In his fourth season, however, just as he was about to break out, Johnson tore his labrum and played just 36 games.
Now in his fifth season, with a five-year, $150 million contract in effect, Johnson has become an elite offensive engine. He’s averaging 22.7 PPG, 10.4 RPG, and a jaw-dropping 8.0 APG along with 1.3 STL. He leads all forwards in potential assists per 100 possessions and is second in defensive rebound percentage, only to all-time great rebounder (and the beneficiary of a small sample size) Kevin Love.
Ironically, Johnson’s scoring is his weakest attribute of the “big three” stats: points, rebounds, and assists. Now that he finally has some scoring help in the starting lineup in the form of CJ McCollum, Johnson has thrived in a slightly reduced scoring role that has allowed his other strengths to shine through.
Hawks in trouble without Trae? NAW
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Nickeil Alexander-Walker has also had quite the breakout season, but unlike Johnson’s, nobody was expecting this. The Hawks were praised when they signed him to a four-year, $60 million contract; Alexander-Walker had built a reputation as a relentless 3-and-D wing, sharing sixth man duties with Naz Reid in Minnesota. He was expected to fill the same role in Atlanta, backing up a starting guard duo of Trae Young and Dyson Daniels.
When Young went down with an injury in the fifth game of the season, Alexander-Walker was thrust into a starting combo guard role alongside Daniels. He rose to the occasion, raising his PPG from 9.4 to 20.3 while shooting 38.9% from three on 8.0 attempts per game. His defense has remained strong and is a key component of a surprisingly strong Hawks defense.
Alexander-Walker went from a sixth man to the heir-apparent to Derrick White’s title of best non-star player in the league. The NBA landscape has shifted to value the little things after watching the failures of every “big three” since the 2011-14 Miami Heat; Alexander-Walker winning MIP, an award traditionally awarded to primary scoring options, would make sense given the overall [shift towards “blue collar” players](https://www.instagram.com/p/DPWtSIaDdiq/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet), dubbed by Hawks reporter David Lee.
Atlanta struck gold this season with their pair of in-season improvements.