Atlanta Hawks star Jalen Johnson will be 28 in 2030.
NBA analyst Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report believes Atlanta Hawks star Jalen Johnson will be the 18th-best player in the NBA in 2030.
Johnson will be 28 in 2030.
"Having a forward like Johnson who can shut down the opposing star, start the break with a board and then handle it as the point man is a game-changer," Bailey wrote. "And all the skills that allow Johnson to do that already are only going to get better between now and 2030. He, like several others on the list, can improve as a jump shooter. More time as the primary facilitator should help him learn how to better take care of the ball too. But we're already in nitpicking territory with a sub-25 forward who just put up the numbers above."
Johnson had a terrific 2025-26 season for the Hawks. He averaged 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game while shooting 48.9% from the field, 35.2% from beyond the arc and 78.8% from the free-throw line. The Duke product recorded 49 double-doubles and 13 triple-doubles in 72 games.
The 24-year-old Johnson made his first All-Star and All-NBA team last season. The swingman made the All-NBA third team.
Johnson is the face of the Atlanta franchise in the post-Trae Young era. As long as he continues to improve each summer, the sky is the limit for Johnson, who averaged 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game in the 2026 playoffs. The Hawks lost to the New York Knicks in the first round in six games.
Atlanta hasn't won a playoff series since 2021. That's the year Young led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals. Johnson, CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels are the leaders of the Hawks moving forward. If Atlanta wants to win big in the Johnson era, the front office has to be aggressive when two-way players become available on the trade market.
It's worth mentioning that the Hawks have several future first-round picks and tradeable contracts to dangle. They have been heavily linked to New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III.
Johnson enters next season with career averages of 14.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. All signs point toward the Wisconsin native make multiple All-Star and All-NBA teams.
