Trae Young's Hawks suffer major blow to playoff hopes after $150M forward goes down with season-ending injury

Throughout Trae Young's career, the Atlanta Hawks have struggled to provide him with a running mate that fits well alongside him, until this season. Jalen Johnson emerged last season as a potential fit alongside Young, and he improved his play drastically this season, putting together an All-Star-level campaign. Unfortunately, the fourth-year pro suffered a severe shoulder injury, ending his season.

Johnson's surgery was announced by ESPN's Shams Charania on X on Wednesday.

Johnson stepped into his role as a secondary scorer on the Hawks last year, improving his scoring average by almost 10 points from the 2022-23 to 2023-24 seasons. Through 36 games, Johnson defeated accusations that last season was a fluke, increasing his scoring by three more points. His improved play alongside Trae Young secured him as a long-term fit alongside the star.

Johnson, a fourth-year pro out of Duke University, signed a five-year, $150 million contract extension that will keep him in Atlanta until 2031, according to Spotrac.

Throughout Young's career, one of the main obstacles facing the Hawks has been their All-Star's defensive weaknesses. Young has consistently ranked as one of the worst defenders in the entire league throughout his career, forcing the Hawks to try to surround him with defenders who can pick up his slack. After failing to do so with Dejounte Murray, the Hawks seem to have found their second fiddle.

Johnson's improvement has made him the face of the Hawks' roster development over the past few years. Entering the season, there were conversations that Trae Young might want to demand a trade out of Atlanta. However, the Hawks are much more intriguing now as the team begins to fit well around Young.

Trae Young and the Hawks' evolution over the last two seasons

After losing to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs back in 2022, the Atlanta Hawks faced a crossroad as they tried to figure out how to improve the team. The team made key decisions, including moving on from Dejounte Murray and John Collins to create more minutes for Jalen Johnson and bring in players like Dyson Daniels via trade.

The results have been positive when it comes to individual performance. Over the last two seasons, the Hawks have had eight players average more than 10 points per game. Couple that with Trae Young's uptick in assists over the same period, culminating in a career-high 11.4 per game, and it becomes clear that the Hawks are trying to take some of the scoring pressure off of him.

The Hawks' improvements haven't resulted in a better record, but there is enough promise to keep Young in Atlanta for the foreseeable future.