Jalen Johnson signs five-year extension with Hawks

Jalen Johnson signs five-year extension with Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks agreed to extend forward Jalen Johnson to a five-year, $150 million rookie-scale deal before Monday’s 6 p.m. deadline, ESPN NBA Shams Charania was among the first to report.

Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson has agreed to a five-year, $150 million rookie contract extension with the franchise, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul and representative Lucas Newton told ESPN. Major new deal for Atlanta’s young cornerstone. pic.twitter.com/bzlK7SCQNg

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 21, 2024

Johnson, 23, broke out last season with Atlanta and is now arguably the team’s second-best player behind Trae Young. He put a stranglehold on securing-and-keeping a full-time starting role for the first time in 2023-24, averaging 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals, shooting 51.1 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from 3-point range and 72.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Like the majority of rookie-scale extensions signed Monday, Johnson’s deal could be a bargain with the expected cap raises. Without Dejounte Murray in the fold, Johnson is expected to take yet another leap alongside Murray. He’s an important part future, in addition to 19-year-old Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, and Young (for now?).

Johnson’s price would’ve only continued to grow in this context, so it’s smart for Atlanta to lock him up now instead of waiting until he’s a restricted free agent to potentially lose him for nothing. According to Spotrac, he won’t account for more than 16 percent of the cap during his new extension, which begins at $25.9 million in 2025-26.

He is one of two players (Onyeka Okongwu) with guaranteed contracts through 2026-27; Risacher will have a fourth-year option ($17.4M) while Vit Krejci has a $3 million team option heading into 2027-28 as well. It appears the 6-foot-8 wing will be a mainstay to their future, and rightfully so; they will have decisions to make on Young, Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Dyson Daniels, among others, in the near future–which could completely change the complexion of this organization.

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