Jalen Johnson’s season is over.
The Hawks forward will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, ending a breakout 2024-25 campaign.
Johnson, 23, suffered the shoulder injury during a loss to the Raptors last Thursday.
Selected No. 20 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, the fourth-year wing was playing himself into the NBA All-Star conversation before the injury, averaging 18.9 points, 10 rebounds and five assists per game across 36 contests.
Johnson had also developed into a solid defender on the perimeter, averaging 1.6 steals and a block per game.
He was considered among the favorites in the NBA’s Most Improved Player race before going down.
After an up-and-down first two seasons in the league, Johnson established himself as a starter in Atlanta last season, parlaying his play into a five-year, $150 million extension in October.
The Hawks are currently 22-25, sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference heading into Wednesday’s play.
Atlanta has been in free fall of late though, losing six straight, in addition to losing one of their best players in Johnson.
Rookie Zaccharie Risacher and veteran De’Andre Hunter figure to take on a bigger role in the Hawks’ wing rotation in Johnson’s absence.
This story originally appeared on NY Post
