July 8, 2013

JaJuan Johnson

Johnson's pro career has thus far been a jarring disappointment. Last year he played for three different D-League teams, this after being picked first overall in the draft. He was traded twice, once for Luke Harangody and once for Kyle Weaver, and his averages declined at each gig. By the end of the year, Johnson found himself averaging only 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.4 blocks per game for the Idaho Stampede. Jeff Potter, the President of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants who picked him first overall, felt obliged to take the unusual step of publicly expressing that Johnson just wasn't committed enough. Even if it's a minority opinion, it's a worrying one.

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June 25, 2011

Pick 27: Finalising the Celtics/Nets trade, New Jersey picks JaJuan Johnson on Boston's behalf. Just prior to Stern's appearance, Andy Katz announces the trade, catching up the viewing public with reality for a brief second. However, it still has not been announced by ESPN that Chicago will acquire Nikola Mirotic, despite that taking place almost half an hour ago. Maybe next year, run a Twitter ticker across the bottom of the screen.

Jay Bilas's JaJuan Johnson spiel makes him sound like a far better rebounder than he actually is. In reality, JaJuan is better in this regard, yet he is not good. A frontcourt pairing of he and Glen Davis is going to struggle to get the boards.

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June 21, 2011

JaJuan Johnson - Johnson is as athletic as any big in this draft pool, and as much of a go-to scorer as any. He does this in four ways - the dunk, the jumpshot over the left shoulder, the jumpshot over the right shoulder, and the right handed hook over the left shoulder. That, plus any resultant free throws, is about it, yet due to his size, he can get them off at any time. Triple J's J has improved over the years, to the point where it included consistent three point range as a senior. He also bulked up slightly, although he remains (and will always be) slender. He runs the court very well, excels as a weak side shotblocker, and defends the perimeter well for a de facto big man.

The downsides are an inability to handle the interior play due to his lack of size (and/or interest), and the resultant poor rebounding. Such downsides have not prevented Channing Frye from a solid, well paid career.

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March 15, 2011

[P]retty much all the Boilermaker's offense is dependent upon three players; E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson and Lewis Jackson.

Johnson has one of the best years of anyone looking to bolster their draft stock. He has gone from being an athlete and a good shooter, to a complete go-to player. Johnson scores 20.5 points in 35 minutes per game, and does it almost exclusively in four different ways - open court dunks, pick-and-pop jumpshots, turnaround jumpshots, and rangy right handed hooks over the left shoulder. He uses the middle two far more than the rest. If creating in the post, Johnson's going to either use the righty hook, sometimes the very rarely used lefty hook, or the turnaround jumpshot. And it's probably the latter. He doesn't dribble drive much, preferring instead to take jumpshots there as well. And because of his great physical profile - 6'10 and incredibly athletic - no one is blocking these jumpshots, which is why he can always default to them. The quality of the jumpshot, and his judicious use of it, have turned him from a good sorer into a star offensive player. Furthermore, Johnson is a good shotblocker who can be easily outmuscled on the interior, but who contests fairly well on the perimeter, and he's even put forth slightly better effort on the defensive glass this season. He has done a lot for his stock, and is in exactly the right era for his skillset.

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