Coming off a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals at the 2021 NBA Playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks will look to build off of that success next season. In spite of their recent success, they still have a desire to add new talent to their roster in the hopes of developing new talent to play with their young superstars and give them an even bigger advantage heading into next season. This specific post is on Atlanta Hawks 2021 NBA Draft grades after the franchise selected Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper.

The additions of Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper could prove to be highly effective for the Hawks, especially with them already being a very youthful team that blossomed into a legit title contender during this year's playoffs. With all this said, let's take a look at the overall grades for both of the Hawks' draft picks from the 2021 NBA Draft.

Atlanta Hawks 2021 NBA Draft Grades

1st Round

Small/Power Forward Jalen Johnson: B 

Jalen Johnson is a hyper athletic wing with great ball skills, rebounding, and defensive versatility. Now this is a great pick up for the Hawks and he'll definitely do wonders for this team moving forward. Especially with his expanding offensive game and his flexibility to play either small or power forward.

His diverse skillsets give the Atlanta Hawks a prototypical inside-out player that opens up the floor for them and gives this young and exciting squad another slasher on the wing. The only issue here is that Atlanta already has a glut of forwards on their roster and this could create overlap in their line up and an uneven distribution of minutes and playing time in their already deep rotation.

Then again, Jalen Johnson is still a work in progress and there's no guarantee he'll be seeing major minutes during his rookie season, especially with John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, De'Andre Hunter, and Onyeka Okongwu seeing major minutes for the Hawks all season long. Given his skills and potential, Atlanta has another promising young asset to that can add even more depth and size to their frontcourt rotation.

Atlanta Hawks 2021 NBA Draft Grades Second Round

2nd Round 

Point Guard Sharife Cooper: A 

With Kris Dunn no longer in the picture for Atlanta, adding a reliable back-up for franchise superstar Trae Young is of utter importance if the Hawks want to build on last year's success. This past season Sharife Cooper joined Trae Young as the only player's in NCAA history to lead the nation in both scoring and assists, and now he'll be playing as Young's back-up on the Hawks. His stellar passing, playmaking, and ability to get to the line will make him a great second string point guard.

Cooper will give the Hawks another guard that can push the tempo and help run a high-octane scoring attack for their second unit. At some point in the near future it'll be expected that Young and Cooper will close out games together and that'll give their opponents all kinds of head aches and defensive woes. Adding Sharife Cooper definitely fits the mold of Atlanta's youth movement and gives them another promising talent to develop while they continue to compete for an NBA championship.