The Atlanta Hawks are flying a bit under the radar as we head into the 2024-2025 season, but if you look closer, there are reasons to be excited about this team coming into the year. They still have a star point guard in Trae Young, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft Zaccharie Risacher, and new players from the Dejounte Murray trade (particularly Dyson Daniels) who should help fix the Hawks biggest issue from last year which was defense.

All of those are great reasons to be excited about a new-look Hawks team, but the No. 1 reason might be the emergence of forward Jalen Johnson, who took giant strides last year. CBS NBA analyst Jasmyn Wimbish recently wrote about the top reason to be excited about each team in the league and she named Johnson for the Hawks.

“You could argue that Johnson already had a breakout year after averaging 16 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists last season. But not too many people paid attention to his performance, as the Hawks won just 36 games. Atlanta could be on pace for another losing season, but Johnson’s ascension could be the reason they actually improve on last year’s mark. He stands out on defense and was usually tasked with more difficult matchups last season. He’ll only be asked to do more on that end, and offensively he should thrive even more now that Dejounte Murray isn’t there. Johnson should be in the running for Most Improved Player, though he probably should’ve won it last year.”

Johnson had a huge breakout season a year ago that might have resulted in him winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award if he had been able to meet the 65-game threshold to be eligible for it. By the looks of it this preseason, Johnson is coming for that award and maybe more than that.

Johnson played in three of the Hawks four preseason and averaged 16.9 PPG in 23 minutes per game on 69% shooting and 87% shooting from three, as well as 7.3 RPG. Now of course that kind of three point shooting can’t be expected this season, but it just goes to show how impressive that Johnson has been this preseason.

Now he was not perfect. He did average four turnovers per game (way too high) and I would like to see his assist numbers go up and see him become more of a second creator next to Trae Young, but that is nitpicking. Johnson looks awesome heading into the season and that should have Hawks fans excited.

Additional Links:

How Will Atlanta Survive The Minutes Without Trae Young?

Denver Nuggets Star Listed as The Most Ambitious Trade Target For The Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta Hawks Basketball: NBA Analyst Makes Prediction On Who Will Be The Hawks MVP and Top Rookie This Season