Jalen Johnson had another excellent showing during Atlanta’s victory over Orlando in Mexico City on Thursday night.
Johnson, who has moved into the starting lineup for the Hawks, has reached double-digit scoring figures in all but one appearance so far this season. He is averaging career-highs of 14.9 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
While his jumper has improved, it is his play near the basket where he has most impressed. Johnson is currently shooting 82 percent at the basket, via Cleaning the Glass, and is one of the league’s leaders in dunks.
Jalen Johnson ranks 7th in the NBA this season with 16 dunks. Here are all of them: pic.twitter.com/754L3S9B4W
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) November 10, 2023
Johnson’s early ascension from someone who did not play many minutes in his first two professional seasons to where he is today as a crucial player for Atlanta is already quite remarkable.
But none of it would be possible if not for the Hawks trading John Collins during the offseason. The return for Collins wasn’t massive but it created an opening for more offensive touches elsewhere.
Over the course of the past few seasons combined, via PBPStats, no one player assisted a teammate more often than Trae Young found Collins.
Per 36 minutes, Young averaged 3.59 assists to Collins during their time together in Atlanta. Young is now averaging 3.48 assists per 36 to Johnson so far this year, including this remarkable behind-the-back alley-oop dime:
Trae behind-the-back oop 🤯 pic.twitter.com/gUQb6PBSGy
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 10, 2023
Young averaged 7.3 passes per game to Collins last season. This season, many of those looks (and more!) are instead going to Johnson, who has received 8.3 passes per game from the point guard.
The best news of all is that his play is seemingly contributing to winning basketball, too. Atlanta has a positive point differential of 68 points when Johnson has played this season, which is the highest plus-minus of anyone on the roster.
The Hawks have outscored opponents by 22.0 points per 100 possessions when he is on relative to when he is off, via Cleaning the Glass, which ranks in the 93rd percentile among all players in the league this season.
Thanks to the playing time he has received by trading Collins, it seems very possible that Atlanta may have an emerging third star on its roster.
