Jalen Johnson, Hawks Agree to 5-Year, $150M Contract Extension Ahead of NBA Season

Jalen Johnson is a long-term building block for the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta and the forward agreed to a new five-year, $150 million extension on Monday, per NBA insider Chris Haynes.

ESPN's Shams Charania noted the deal is fully guaranteed, while ESPN's Tim Bontemps added that there are no options in the extension.

This comes after the Hawks exercised club options on his contract for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns. He was also scheduled to be a restricted free agent ahead of the 2025-26 season, which meant there wasn't as much urgency for an immediate deal since the team could match any offers he received in that scenario.

Still, Johnson was extension eligible, and his play ensured this wasn't a particularly difficult decision.

The 2021 first-round draft pick was a secondary contributor for his first two seasons and was not a major part of the rotation even though he flashed glimpses of his potential at times.

And then his third season happened.

Johnson took significant strides and ended up averaging 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from three-point range in 2023-24.

He was a double-double threat every time he stepped on the floor who battled on the boards against taller players and was versatile enough defensively to guard multiple positions from his forward spot.

Throw in the ability to extend his game beyond the arc when defenders collapsed on Trae Young all while attacking the rim with his athleticism and finishing prowess, and he impacted virtually every facet of the game.

Johnson's two-way impact was clear when opponents shot 4.1 percent worse from three-point range and 2.1 percent worse from within six feet of the basket than their normal averages when he guarded them in 2023-24, per NBA.com.

Those numbers underscored how he could guard all over the floor, which was something the Hawks needed with Young's questionable defense on the perimeter.

Atlanta lost in the play-in tournament to the Chicago Bulls, but Johnson was a bright spot in a disappointing season. He looked like All-Star Games will be in his future and is just 22 years old.

That is the exact type of true building block a team looking to establish itself as a long-term contender in the Eastern Conference needs, and Atlanta made sure he isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future with this move.