In an Offseason Full Of Questions, Jalen Johnson's Extension Is The Easiest For The Atlanta Hawks To Answer

This is shaping up to be a crazy summer in the NBA.

There are a lot of teams going into the offseason with questions about their roster and how to improve. It is far easier to find teams that don't have any questions and will be keeping the same team going into next season.

One of those teams is the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have not gotten the results they had hoped for when they traded for Dejounte Murray two summers ago and it seems like the pairing of Murray and Trae Young is going to head for a split this summer. It was a disappointing and frustrating season for the Hawks and it is going to be an interesting summer ahead for this team and a lot of decisions are going to have to be made by the Hawks front office, which added a new decision-maker this offseason.

One of the decisions that the Hawks will have to make is about Jalen Johnson's rookie extension, but that is going to be the easiest decision that the Hawks have made in some time.

Starting this offseason, the Hawks have until Oct. 21st to extend Johnson and they will almost certainly do so at some point this offseason. Johnson was arguably the bright spot of the Hawks season and at times you could even argue he was their best player. He has become the kind of two-way threat that Atlanta needed and did not have on their roster and he looked like a future All-Star for much of the season, despite battling injuries.

This from ESPN's Bobby Marks shows how much Johnson improved from his previous season and showed why he is in for a nice extension:

"The Hawks have up until Oct. 21 to extend Johnson. The forward averaged career highs in points (16.1) and 3-point percentage (35.3%). Overall, Johnson has increased his scoring average from 5.6 last season to 16.1 this season. That is the second-largest increase among players to play at least 50 games in both seasons, trailing Cam Thomas. Johnson ranked in the bottom-10 in field goal percentage on all jumpers last season but saw an increase this year, going from 29% to 39%. Since Fields joined the front office in October 2020, Atlanta has signed a player to a rookie extension in each of the past three offseasons (Young, Kevin Huerter, De'Andre Hunter and Okongwu)"

What could Jalen Johnson's extension look like? I think there are two players who got extensions last offseason that are nice comparisons for Johnson in terms of what his extension might look like

Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels earned a five-year $131 million dollar extension last offseason and Spurs guard Devin Vassell earned a five-year, $135 million dollar extension. Those two players I think are going to be the starting point for where Johnson's will be. He is a better player with a higher ceiling I believe and he plays a position of great value.

If I had to guess, I think Johnson will get more than either of those players, but not receive a full max like LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, and Anthony Edwards did. Johnson might even be closer to the five-year, $197 million dollar extension that Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane received.

All in all, expect Johnson to receive a lucrative extension this coming offseason that makes him a key part of the Hawks future for years to come. No matter what the Hawks do with Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, or any other player on their roster, the decision they have to make with Jalen Johnson is going to be their easiest of the entire summer.