June 29, 2018

Stanley Johnson
SF - 6’7, 245lbs - 22 years old - 3 years of experience

A starter for much of the season, it can never any longer be said that Johnson has not had NBA opportunities. He has. And so if he continues to fail to deliver on them, then perhaps he has limitations to his skill set and skills development that will see him stuck with a much lower ceiling than it was thought he did.

In these three years, Johnson has never learned to shoot. Given his limitations with the dribble (we’ll come to this), Johnson’s role offensively involves a lot of spotting up, from the corners and the wings, working as the fifth option around whoever else is doing the creating bits. This is not something that he has ever been good at, though, with a third consecutive season of sub-par outside shooting that shows no signs of improvement. Indeed, albeit in tiny increments, his three-point percentage as gone backwards each season.

If Johnson is never going to be a shooter, perhaps he should focus instead on being a driver. But this is much more easily said than done. Seemingly only able to drive one way and not an advanced ball handler at all, Johnson is also a limited finisher, with a poor floater and struggling when contested. He passes quite well off the dribble, but this skill is mitigated somewhat by his lack of scoring threat that does not draw the defence much in the first place. Offensively, then, Johnson remains a work in progress.

The defence is better, but it too does not stand out. Indeed, thus far, only the measurements do. Johnson is still young. Graduating senior-young. But such rationalising runs out of legs eventually.

Player Plan: One year of rookie scale salary remaining. Extension eligible but it is very hard to gauge a price for a player who has yet to play up to replacement level in three seasons. Encourage him to earn it all this next season.

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June 29, 2017

Stanley Johnson
SF, 6’7, 245lbs, 21 years old, 2 years of experience

Johnson struggled markedly on offence as a rookie yet has only slumped further on that end as a sophomore. A poor finisher from all areas, Johnson has no role on the offensive end, not even as regular clean-up; he is unreliable as a slasher, unused as a transition possibility on a slow team, and far behind the curve for a wing player in terms of his ball handling skills. The defence is better, but Johnson was not drafted to be a specialist.

Player Plan: Two rookie scale years remaining, yet progress is minimal. Would not be averse to taking a first round pick for him if one is floating around - then again, given the struggles thus far, there might not be.

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