Which Hawks Player Has A Chance To Be A First Time All-Star This Season?

Could the Hawks have a first time All-Star this season?

Apr 9, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) shoots against the Miami Heat in the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Last season, Trae Young was selected to the third All-Star game of his career and he is the only player on the Atlanta Hawks that has made an All-Star Game. Now that the Hawks have traded away Dejounte Murray, the Hawks no longer have multiple All-Stars.

Could that change this year though?

Obviously Young is a candidate to make an All-Star Game every season, but is there a player on the Hawks who could make the All-Star game for the first time?

In terms of talent, Jalen Johnson is obviously a candidate, but he will of course have a lot of competition for the frontcourt spots in the Eastern Conference. Last year, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Paolo Banchero, Scottie Barnes, Jaylen Brown, and Julius Randle occupied the forward spots for the Eastern Conference. Giannis and Tatum seem like locks to make every All-Star team going forward, but the other guys (who are all better than Johnson right now) could be jumped. Now, that is going to require quite a leap by Johnson, but it is not out of the question. I think Barnes and Randle are the forwards from last year's All-Star Team that are most likely to miss it this year, but there are other players that Johnson will have to compete with and he has to stay healthy.

This from ESPN's Bobby Marks shows how much Johnson improved from his previous season and showed why he is in for a nice contract extension:

"The Hawks have up until Oct. 21 to extend Johnson. The forward averaged career highs in points (16.1) and 3-point percentage (35.3%). Overall, Johnson has increased his scoring average from 5.6 last season to 16.1 this season. That is the second-largest increase among players to play at least 50 games in both seasons, trailing Cam Thomas. Johnson ranked in the bottom-10 in field goal percentage on all jumpers last season but saw an increase this year, going from 29% to 39%. Since Fields joined the front office in October 2020, Atlanta has signed a player to a rookie extension in each of the past three offseasons (Young, Kevin Huerter, De'Andre Hunter and Okongwu)

I think Johnson is Atlanta's best bet for a first-time All-Star, but are there any other players?

The three guys who you could make a case for are Bogdan Bogdanovic and Onyeka Okongwu. They are both very unlikely though. If Okongwu steps into a full time starting role, could he be good enough to earn an All-Star bid? We have not seen Okongwu in a large enough sample size as the starting center and as a former top-six pick, he still has a lot of talent. Bogdanovic is one of the top scorers in the league and if he had an insane shooting season, he could get consideration. They are both good players, but All-Star caliber? Probably not.

I think if the Hawks have a first time All-Star, it will almost certainly be Johnson. If he does take that big of a leap, the Hawks have a chance to surprise.