Southeast Notes: Johnson, NAW, Wagner, Black, Isaac, Bam

Within a feature on the NBA’s hottest team, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) notes that the Hawks could’ve been a viable trade suitor for Giannis Antetokounmpo prior to last month’s deadline, but says the idea of including Jalen Johnson in an offer for the Bucks star was viewed as a “non-starter” in Atlanta.

Johnson’s own agent, Rich Paul, fueled trade speculation when he suggested in a December episode of the Game Over podcast that Milwaukee should target his client in Giannis trade talks (Twitter video link). However, according to Fischer, the Hawks believe the 24-year-old, who made his first All-Star team this season, has MVP-level upside.

“That was probably the first time in my career (hearing) the rumors and stuff like that,” Johnson told Fischer. “But I got reassurance from everyone around here that that’s not the plan. Obviously it means a lot … the trust they have in me and the belief they have in me.”

Johnson is averaging career highs in points (23.0), rebounds (10.4), and assists (8.1) per game in 2025/26. He’s in the first season of a five-year contract that will pay him $30MM annually through 2029/30.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

• The Hawks extended their winning streak to 10 games on Tuesday as guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored a career-high 41 points and made a career-best nine three-pointers. As Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes (subscription required), Alexander-Walker is building a strong Most Improved Player case in his first season in Atlanta. His scoring average of 20.3 points per game is more than double last season’s mark (9.4 PPG), and he has done it without sacrificing efficiency — his 59.2% true shooting percentage is a career high.
• After playing in each of the Magic‘s first 24 games, forward Franz Wagner has missed 40 of the past 44 due to a troublesome left ankle injury. Speaking to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required), Wagner acknowledged it has been a “very frustrating process” rehabbing that high ankle sprain. “Going into it, I was kind of expecting to feel really good within, like, four, six weeks of the injury,” he said. “And obviously that wasn’t how I felt. So, I think that’s always frustrating probably not just for me (but) for everybody involved.”
• In addition to being without Wagner vs. Charlotte on Thursday, the Magic will also be missing Anthony Black (left lateral abdominal strain) for a seventh straight game and Jonathan Isaac (left knee sprain) for a fourth straight contest. According to Beede, Isaac was wearing a knee brace on Tuesday, while head coach Jamahl Mosley said that Black “hasn’t touched the floor, really, at all.”
• Heat big man Bam Adebayo appears likely to return to action on Thursday vs. the Lakers after sitting out on Tuesday due to calf tightness. He’s listed as probable to play, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.