Jalen Johnson is spending his offseason the way a franchise centerpiece should: bringing younger teammates into the mix and making sure they’re not just training, but learning how to compete.
This latest run featured two of Atlanta’s newest first-round picks, Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor, alongside Johnson. His brother, Kobe Johnson, was also there as the group went up against a loaded collection of talent that included LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan and Jaren Jackson Jr.
For a pair of rookies who haven’t played in an NBA game yet, that’s no small thing. They’re already getting a taste of what it looks like to share the floor with some of the league’s biggest names, even if it’s in a summer workout setting.
Johnson’s approach fits the mold of what he learned from Trae Young. However fans feel about Young’s time in Atlanta, he consistently made a point to pull teammates into his offseason work.
That mattered. It helped build chemistry, and it kept the group connected instead of spending the summer scattered in different directions.
Young’s most active stretch as a leader came the same summer the Hawks traded for Dyson Daniels and used the first overall pick on Zaccharie Risacher. He invited both to his annual From The Point Weekend, where they took part in open runs and a live podcast.
Johnson appears to be carrying that same mindset forward now that the spotlight is on him. Working out with LeBron is familiar territory for him, but bringing in young Hawks players changes the picture. That’s the real sign here: he’s not just showing up as the top option, he’s acting like one.
For Flemings and Ejiofor, the experience is already valuable. They got to line up against elite competition, and they did it before ever appearing in an NBA game.
It’s only a summer run, but it says plenty about where Johnson is mentally. The face of the franchise is fully bought in.
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Sanjay Lumpkin and Reggis Onwukamuche are also part of that larger structure, taking over as the Skyhawks head coach and associate head coach while remaining assistants with the Hawks. The staff shuffle does not stop there, either, with Aaron Evans moving up to pro scout and Steve Klei shifting into a full-time assistant coaching role. For a team trying to build depth and continuity, the message is pretty plain: the development side is being treated like an extension of the main bench, and the next step in that plan is the part everyone will watch. [Read more 🡒]
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That matters because the Hawks are trying to improve the roster without boxing themselves into a corner later, a balance that is easier talked about than executed. Salehs experience gives Atlanta a built-in edge in that process, with the kind of judgment that helps a team chase upgrades while still protecting future flexibility, which is exactly the sort of discipline front offices get judged on when the league starts handing out real consequences. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Season May Come Down To One Debate Fans Know Well
The Hawks enter the season with the kind of roster that invites both optimism and second-guessing, which is usually where the conversation around this team starts anyway. Their offseason changes gave them more ways to build around the core, and the shape of the roster suggests there is at least a plausible path to meaningful progress if the returners take another step and the new pieces settle in quickly.
For Atlanta, the real issue is whether the gains are enough to patch the familiar weak spots that have tripped them up before. There is a version of this season where the group looks more connected and much harder to defend, but there is also a familiar floor if the same problems linger and the new additions do not move the needle the way the front office needs them to. [Read more 🡒]