Hawks’ Jalen Johnson opens up on ‘growing pains’ with CJ McCollum

The Atlanta Hawks have looked different over the past two weeks due to the Trae Young trade, and they have two new contributors on the team. CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert came over from the Washington Wizards in the trade, and they are two players who have the tools to help the Hawks for the remainder of the season.

McCollum specifically is known as a veteran in this league and has been on several different teams before landing with the Hawks. Throughout his career, he’s gotten buckets in clutch situations or when the team needs to get out of a rut, and he knows how to answer the call.

The hope is that he can have that same impact with the Hawks, and though it looks as if he and Kispert are still getting adjusted, Jalen Johnson has already spoken highly of the vet.

“He’s a good vet to have,” Johnson said. “He’s someone who’s in constant communication with everybody. You’re going to have growing pains, especially when you’re trying to integrate new guys into the group, but thankfully, we have two smart guys who came in, and they’re adjusting pretty quickly. We just gotta stick with it and stay consistent with everything.”

As the season continues, McCollum should be able to fit in with what the Hawks are trying to do, and hopefully, it leads to wins as the Hawks are currently on a four-game losing streak.

Hawks still adjusting to new additions on the team

After the Hawks’ loss against the Milwaukee Bucks, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was asked about how it’s been playing off of McCollum.

“It’s just about reading points of attack and playing off-ball with him a little bit,” Alexander-Walker said. “I know in the first half, I drove, he hit me. Set a screen, I got stopped, he peeled off, I hit him, and he was able to drive a closeout and get a layup. The more we use our skillset and tools together, I feel like it’s going to benefit us. And there’s times that it did, it’s just about communication, and learning CJ. And he’s also learning us and what our system is and how he can be effective. 

“I’m going to try my best at being better at communicating. The tough thing about it is being in Year 7 and him being in like Year 13, I’m not trying to come off as the guy that’s talking down on him. He’s done this before. But still having that open communication and saying ‘Hey trust me’ or ‘What do you see here.'”

McCollum is going to be looked at as the player who can come off the bench and be a spark for the Hawks, while also using his veteran leadership to steer them the right way.

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