Arizona Junior Strengths: A pretty good athlete with a strong build, nice body control, and adequate length … Is a powerful leaper off of 2 feet … Is a pretty smart basketball player and has textbook fundamentals in nearly every aspect of his game … Has a compact jump shot that he can hit with good regularity from as far as 25 ft. out … Explodes and elevates beautifully into his shots … Strong open court player … Can finish powerfully above the rim, and is a gliding type leaper who seemingly hangs in the air … Good first step … Moves well without the basketball … Unselfish player … Effective scorer in pick and roll situations … Does a good job of using his shoulders and hips to separate the ball from defenders on his slashes … Likes to shoot pull-up jumpers … Has the tools to be able to play spot minutes at PG at the next level, and is an acceptable passer on the wing … Not afraid to draw contact, and gets to the foul line at a reasonable rate … Pretty good on-ball defender … Plays with good energy and fought through screens well in college … Shows active hands as well … Improved nicely every season he was at Arizona and became a unanimous 1st Team All-American as a Jr., really showed a more polished game this past season …
Weaknesses: Johnson is a 6’2 combo guard, and really didn’t get a chance to show much as a floor general to ease concerns about him being more of a 2 than a 1 as a Jr … He is pretty short for a true SG, and only has average length to compensate … Size makes him a liability guarding bigger wings …Doesn’t really have a true standout skill on offense right now … Not going to show much creativity as a ball-handler, and can be prone to blindly dribbling into bad spots on the court … Although he is a high rising leaper, he never really excelled finishing around the rim in college; likely due to his lack of height … Can be shot over by taller wings … His jump shot, while decent, is not great and he settles too often … Will have to find an exact fit to really be at his best in the league, one who will live with his lack of height at the SG spot and is comfortable enough to let him run the offense sporadically as well …
Overall: The reigning Pac 12 Player of the Year, Johnson leaves Arizona after a very strong Jr. season and his NBA draft stock as high as it has ever been … Johnson is an experienced player and he made very good strides every year he was in school … He’s a very good athlete and a decent offensive talent, and he offers very tough defense as well…His lack of height and perceived lack of a true position don’t help his stock, but he was a productive player and an All-American performer with some translatable skills …
Jorrye Nixon 5/15/14
Notes: Nephew of former Celtics great Dennis Johnson and son of former California playground legend "Jumpin" Joey Johnson.
