Hawks to sign Jalen Johnson to five-year extension

Johnson, who will turn 23 in December, has steadily gained a bigger foothold in the Hawks’ rotation since seeing limited action in 22 games as a rookie in 2021-22. He broke out in a major way in his third NBA season, averaging 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals in 33.7 minutes per game while posting a shooting line of .511/.355/.728 in 56 outings (52 starts).

Injuries prevented Johnson from playing a full season in 2023/24, but he’s healthy this fall and appears poised to take another step forward for a retooling Hawks team that traded away one of its primary offensive options (Dejounte Murray) over the summer.

With Johnson poised to take on a more significant role in year four, it made sense for the Hawks to move now to secure him to a long-term contract since he could further increase his value with a big season in ’24-25.

Johnson’s $30M-per-year extension puts him right in line with the five-year, $150.5M deal that Jalen Suggs completed with the Magic and is the seventh-biggest rookie scale extension signed this offseason, behind Suggs, Alperen Sengun, and the four players who got maximum-salary commitments (Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Franz Wagner).

Johnson and No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher project to be long-term cornerstones in Atlanta, while young center Onyeka Okongwu is also under contract for the next four seasons. Atlanta’s performance in 2024-25 may go a long way toward determining whether three-time All-Star Trae Young is also considered a part of that future core beyond his current contract, which has two guaranteed years remaining.