Jalen Johnson’s Explosive 2025 Breakout: How the Hawks’ New Franchise Star Is Reshaping Atlanta’s Future

Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson is turning heads across the NBA with a breakout 2025-26 campaign that has vaulted him into early All-Star and Most Improved Player conversations. The 23-year-old earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors after averaging 24.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 9.3 assists during a perfect 4-0 West-Coast swing, becoming the first Hawk to post those numbers in a single week since Dominique Wilkins in 1991. What makes Johnson’s surge even more dangerous for opponents is his newly confident three-point stroke. After hitting just 29 percent from deep last season, the 6-foot-9 playmaker is drilling better than 50 percent of his threes over the last five games on nearly four attempts per night. That spacing has unlocked Atlanta’s offense: lineups with Johnson at power forward are posting 119.4 points per 100 possessions, up from 111.2 a year ago. The Duke product’s improved shooting has not come at the expense of his trademark versatility. Johnson ranks top-10 among East forwards in both defensive rebounds (9.1) and potential assists (11.4) per game, routinely initiating fast breaks, finishing above the rim and guarding three positions. His rare combination of size, ball-handling and vision allows head coach Quin Snyder to deploy switch-everything schemes while keeping Trae Young off primary assignments. Inside the locker room, teammates credit the leap to Johnson’s offseason regimen that included 1,000 corner threes daily and study sessions with assistant coach Lamar Patterson on Draymond Green-style short-roll reads. “The game slowed down once the jumper felt automatic,” Johnson said after a 31-18-14 masterclass in Utah, the first 30-point triple-double with zero turnovers in franchise history. Scouts are already whispering All-NBA potential. If Johnson sustains his two-way impact—and the Hawks continue their climb from last year’s Play-In purgatory—he could become Atlanta’s first front-court All-Star since Paul Millsap. Expect contenders to monitor Johnson closely ahead of the trade deadline; with a team-friendly rookie-scale extension looming, his rapid ascent may reshape the Eastern Conference balance of power. For now, Atlanta fans can revel in the realization that the No. 20 pick of the 2021 draft has blossomed into one of basketball’s most complete young forwards—proof that patience and player development still pay dividends in the star-driven NBA.