Last season, Trae Young was selected to his third career All-Star game and is the only Atlanta Hawks player to have played in an All-Star game. Now that the Hawks have traded Dejounte Murray, the Hawks no longer have multiple All-Stars.

Could this change this year?

Young is clearly a candidate to make the 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 contender, but he will of course have a lot of competition for the power forward spots in the Eastern Conference. Last year, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Paolo Banchero, Scottie Barnes, Jaylen Brown, and Julius Randle occupied the power forward spots in the Eastern Conference. Giannis and Tatum seem certain to make every All-Star team in the future, but the other guys (who are all better than Johnson right now) could be overtaken. It will take a big step forward for Johnson, but it’s not out of the question. I think Barnes and Randle are the power forwards from last year’s All-Star team who are most likely to miss this year, but there are other players Johnson will have to compete with and he needs to stay healthy.

This video from ESPN’s Bobby Marks shows how much Johnson improved from his previous season and showed why he’s on the verge of a nice contract extension:

“The Hawks have until Oct. 21 to extend Johnson. The forward has career highs in points (16.1) and three-point percentage (35.3 percent). Overall, Johnson has increased his points average from 5.6 last season to 16.1 this season. That’s the second-highest increase among players who have played at least 50 games over both seasons, behind Cam Thomas. Johnson ranked in the top 10 in field goal percentage on all shots last season, but saw an increase this year, going from 29 percent to 39 percent. Since Fields joined the front office in October 2020, Atlanta has signed a player to a rookie extension in each of the last three offseasons (Young, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter and Okongwu).

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

The three players you might be interested in are Bogdan Bogdanovic and Onyeka Okongwu. But they are both highly unlikely. If Okongwu becomes a full-time starter, could he be good enough to earn an All-Star berth? We haven’t seen Okongwu in a large enough sample size as a starting center and as a former top-six pick, he still has plenty of talent. Bogdanovic is one of the best scorers in the league and if he had an incredible shooting season, he could be considered. They are both good players, but All-Star caliber? Probably not.

I think if the Hawks have a new All-Star, it will almost certainly be Johnson. If he makes that jump, the Hawks have a chance to pull off an upset.

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