The Hawks are picking up their team options on center Onyeka Okongwu and forward Jalen Johnson for the 2023/24 season, according to reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps (Twitter links).
The moves will lock in a fourth-year salary of $8,109,063 for Okongwu, the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft, and a third-year salary of $2,925,360 for Johnson, last year’s 20th overall pick.
Okongwu has had his season debut delayed by injuries in each of his first two years in the NBA, having dealt with a foot issue as a rookie and shoulder surgery last season. However, he has shown intriguing promise when he’s been healthy, averaging 8.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 1.3 BPG in 48 games (20.7 MPG) in 2021/22. He could be in line for a larger role going forward.
Johnson is also expected to see more action in his second NBA season, according to Bontemps. As a rookie, the former Duke standout logged just 120 total minutes in 22 games, averaging 2.4 PPG and 1.2 RPG.
Okongwu will now become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2023 offseason. As for Johnson, he has a $4.51MM team option for 2024/25, which the Hawks will have to make a decision on by October 31, 2023.
These 2 guys are gonna be big time nba players sooner than later. Both extremely talented, great hands, high vasketball iq & extremely athletic for their size. With Capela, Okongwu, Collins & Johnson we got a frontcourt full of talent & versatility. Adding Jae Crowder (& subtracting Kaminsky) would give us a lot more grit/toughness tho & that’s really the only thing this team is missing