Grange Blog 12:44pm- DD gone by 9, Johnson is Raps pick

[Rebel INS]

If we draft Johnson its going to be less about how good scouting thinks Johnson will be and more about how poorly they think about the rest of the players available around 9

I caught a few wake games, mostly for Aminu and Teague but Johnson was alright. Nothing spectacular in my eyes but he's got a good skill set/tools and he should be able to make some kind of career for himself in the nba. Drafting him indicates to me that raps management has reason to believe that other available prospects won't pan out

Definitely not someone I had on my draft list but I don't have professional scouting, live workouts and interviews to base my judgments off of. Just college games and scouting reports like everyone else here. It's not as if the Raptors are the only team buzzing about this guy lately. Either its all an elaborate smokescreen that Charlotte/GS/Chi are in on or teams have reason to give this guy a look

I'll reserve judgement for now

[Anatomize]

I don't know guys. There seems to be a clearer line between the idea of a PF and SF these days than the guard positions. Everything's interchangeable so there are the occasional overlaps but it seems to me that Holiday has a higher positional hill to climb to become even a solid guard in the NBA than it would be for James Johnson to be a solid SF.

Out of your list :

Lebron James
Shawn Marion
Andrei Kirelenko
Rashard Lewis
Gerald Wallace
Ron Artest
Lamar Odom
Josh Smith
Marvin Williams
Carmello Anthony
Paul Pierce
Richard Jefferson
Caron Butler
Andre Iguodala
Corey Maggette
Mike Miller
Al Harington
Josh Howard
Tayshaun Prince
Hedo Turkglo
Andres Nocioni
Kyle Korver
Bobby Simmons
Luol Deng
Mike Dunleavy Jr.
Danny Granger
Jeff Green

Every single one of these players with the exception of Nocioni, Maggette, and Marion has absolutely torched us in the past few years. Do you expect Johnson to be able to hold his own both offensively and defensively against the majority of these players?

This is the reason why Ryan Gomes is so inconsistent, while he is very talented offensively, he's very streaky and relies too much on his outside jumpshot instead of taking advantage of his post up game more often; his defense is largely overrated as well.

All we need is another perimeter oriented big who drives occasionally.

Granted, I don't know half as much about Johnson as some other people here, this is from what little I've seen of him.

[jalenrose#5]

This is one of the more intriguing drafts in recent memory. After 1, I have no idea what will be going on for picks after that.

Could Memphis deal the number 2...to say Houston, where Rubio would absolutely kill there. How about if they keep the pick and take Thabeet, then will OKC take Rubio, or somehow take someone like Thabeet if he's still there.

Anyways, The Timberwolves are the team that really make me wonder. Why do they want both the 5 and 6 picks? I have a feeling they may trade 5/18 for a pick in the 3-4 range in hopes Rubio is still there. The Timberwolves lack a good PG on that team, and all the wing talent in the world cannot hide the fact they have Sebastian Telfair as their number 1 PG.

I see the top 10 playing out as such...

Griffin(LAC)/Thabeet(MEM)/Rubio(MIN)/Flynn(SAC)/Hill(OKC)/Harden(MIN)/Evans(GSW)/Curry(NYK)/DeRozan(TOR)/Holiday(MIL)

I really don't see the Wolves keeping those 5/6 picks....so my thinking is still that DeRozan will be there. If the Raps pick DeRozan ahead of Johnson and both are still there at 9...I will be mad. I'll then be hoping DeRozan turns out to be a Rodney Carney clone..lol

[Double Helix]

I don't know guys. There seems to be a clearer line between the idea of a PF and SF these days than the guard positions. Everything's interchangeable so there are the occasional overlaps but it seems to me that Holiday has a higher positional hill to climb to become even a solid guard in the NBA than it would be for James Johnson to be a solid SF.

Out of your list :

Lebron James
Shawn Marion
Andrei Kirelenko
Rashard Lewis
Gerald Wallace
Ron Artest
Lamar Odom
Josh Smith
Marvin Williams
Carmello Anthony
Paul Pierce
Richard Jefferson
Caron Butler
Andre Iguodala
Corey Maggette
Mike Miller
Al Harington
Josh Howard
Tayshaun Prince
Hedo Turkglo
Andres Nocioni
Kyle Korver
Bobby Simmons
Luol Deng
Mike Dunleavy Jr.
Danny Granger
Jeff Green

Every single one of these players with the exception of Nocioni, Maggette, and Marion has absolutely torched us in the past few years. Do you expect Johnson to be able to hold his own both offensively and defensively against the majority of these players?

This is the reason why Ryan Gomes is so inconsistent, while he is very talented offensively, he's very streaky and relies too much on his outside jumpshot instead of taking advantage of his post up game more often; his defense is largely overrated as well.

All we need is another perimeter oriented big who drives occasionally.

Granted, I don't know half as much about Johnson as some other people here, this is from what little I've seen of him.

Sorry, I was editing my point while you quoted it. I wasn't trying to get out of the point; I was hoping to make my point more clear. Anyway, I think his defence will be better at the next level because he won't be pounded by PFs any longer. Al Aminu essentially forced him into playing PF so that Wake could have both on the floor at the same time. He won't be a 4 at the next level and he knows that and is looking forward to it.

[Reignman]

james johnson is very talented, but is he the BPA at #9 if somehow DeRozan is not available?

Short answer, NO.

This would be a drafting for need pick at it's best.

[andrew2good4u]

sorry.. repost

[Test of Wills]

I'm still glad we don't know who we are picking. More suspense leading up to 7 PM tonight.

This whole draft process for the Raptors proves one thing and one thing only, no one knows a flick or inside track on what our man Colangelo is doing.

[J-Roc]

Before all the hate gets laid down, I will say, I trust the Raps brass. If they pick JJ it's because they genuinely saw something in him that we're not seeing. It's not always about stats and whatever. They've sat down and talked to him (and the others).

[Dalek]

Hoop Analyst has a good write up on JJ. I think he has some great upside and is not perimeter-oriented, but more of a slasher.

3. James Johnson, Wake Forest: The important thing with Johnson is all his numbers land above the benchmarks. He doesn’t blow them all away like Blair did, but he did surpass them. I also like that Johnson is a versatile player. He can score from inside and out. He gets a fair amount of steals, assists and blocks. A young player like Johnson who has a diverse game would seem like a good investment. His 2-point percentage has been at .574 and .598 for his two seasons. This is a pretty impressive. It suggests he might have the stuff to become a 20 PPG scorer. This along with the rest of his game should make him a pretty attractive player.

Johnson has a couple of stats that are kind of scary though. The first shows his propensity for firing up 3-pointers:

James Johnson

Freshman
2 pt pct
.574
2 pt att 237
.280
3pt att 100

Sophomore
.598
2 pt att 276
3 pt pct .319
3pt att 69

At least he checked in with a better ratio this past year, so he’s going in the right direction. It’s not that it’s bad for him to shoot some treys. The problem is he’s much more efficient when he’s shooting 2-pointers, so that’s where his focus should be. The next stat is free throw attempts per 40 minutes. Johnson was last among PF prospects this year at 3.89. The only PFs who have been under 4.0 while scoring over 18 P40 as Johnson did were Antonio McDyess, Terry Mills and Harvey Grant. This is also an efficiency issue, because getting to the line means easy points. What worries me about these two stats is it might expose Johnson as somewhat of a soft player. That he’s a big guy who prefers to take the jump shot rather than using his size to score on the inside where things are much rougher. That he’s leery about driving it and drawing hard fouls. I’m not saying this is the case, but the evidence points in that direction.

That being said, Johnson looks like a decent prospect. He brings a diverse game and an upside that’s pretty impressive. His rebounding improved as his sophomore season progressed, a good thing since his totals are a tad low. I’m worried about the toughness though. Generally I don’t like to mention such intangibles, but when the numbers suggest there’s a problem I bring it into the mix. While toughness is a word used too often in praising or deriding prospects, it is an important trait for a prospect to have. If Johnson lacks it, he’ll be out of the league pretty quickly. I still like him as a player because of his upside. He has borderline all-star potential and there are only 2 other PFs who can say that this year. It’s possible the toughness issue I raised is a case of me looking at too many numbers in too short a period of time and making some crazy stuff up. But James Johnson won’t reach his potential until he uses his scoring ability to its maximum efficiency. That means more 2-pointers and trips to the line.

http://www.hoopsanalyst.com/0809ew12.htm

[A_wildstabatanything]

I will say, I trust the Raps brass.

Why?

[lemondrop]

Before all the hate gets laid down, I will say, I trust the Raps brass. If they pick JJ it's because they genuinely saw something in him that we're not seeing. It's not always about stats and whatever. They've sat down and talked to him (and the others).

Its also not about what he talks about in an interview or how he dribbles a ball around a pylon, some of us have watched alot of college basketball and can come to our own conclusions. I get this feeling every freaking year that this team puts way to much into workouts and interviews. While it helps you finalize what you already thought about a player it should not be what decides who you pick. The same thing happened to us with Hoffa, I remember Kelly raving about how he looked in the workout and sure enough we drafted him.

[TR50]

Before all the hate gets laid down, I will say, I trust the Raps brass. If they pick JJ it's because they genuinely saw something in him that we're not seeing. It's not always about stats and whatever. They've sat down and talked to him (and the others).

+1

[J-Roc]

Before all the hate gets laid down, I will say, I trust the Raps brass. If they pick JJ it's because they genuinely saw something in him that we're not seeing. It's not always about stats and whatever. They've sat down and talked to him (and the others).

Its also not about what he talks about in an interview or how he dribbles a ball around a pylon, some of us have watched alot of college basketball and can come to our own conclusions. I get this feeling every freaking year that this team puts way to much into workouts and interviews. While it helps you finalize what you already thought about a player it should not be what decides who you pick. The same thing happened to us with Hoffa, I remember Kelly raving about how he looked in the workout and sure enough we drafted him.

But....the Raps braintrust have seen all that you've seen.....plus they've been able to talk to him. They know more than you or I know. Could they be wrong? Hell yeah. But that's as much about the draft being a crapshoot than anything else.

[MEDIC]

Or.......#5 Evans (Can play point or SG)

#6 DeRozan

That would be an amazing compliment of swings. Evans could play some point for them & DeRozan could play some SF.

That compliment of players almost sounds too enticing to pass up...

It could happen, but I think they're better off with a true PG.

They still have the 18th pick. Could draft Lawson.....or trade for a PG.

Minny is in an awesome situation......they've got a ton of assets....it's been proven in the past that if you have excellent wings, you don't need an elite PG.....just a steady one (Bulls, Lakers, etc)

[LLJ]

James Johnson's scouting report reminds me of what people said about Danny Granger in 2004.

[A_wildstabatanything]

James Johnson's scouting report reminds me of what people said about Danny Granger in 2004.

I'm not seeing it. Granger was my top pick heading into the 2005 draft and I want nothing to do with Johnson at #9.

[The Chucker]

**** this. Johnson is totally going to become a total bust and I don't care what his bandwagon fans have got to say. He's clearly in't the bpa by 9 and ther'll be at least other better player by 9. Don't know why they wn'tconsder clark.

[Morena R]

I'm calling this B.S

[LLJ]

James Johnson's scouting report reminds me of what people said about Danny Granger in 2004.

I'm not seeing it. Granger was my top pick heading into the 2005 draft and I want nothing to do with Johnson at #9.

I have no actual insight on JJ, I'm just saying that's what the scouting reports make him sound like. Versatile player, but doesn't blow you away. Not super athletic but good enough...that's what they said about Granger.

We really should have drafted Danny that year though. A few people here really liked him, and though I'm a terrible scout as a rule, I found him far more intriguing than what we ended up with. And people weren't really making as big a deal about his knee injury as you might expect. We knew about it but it wasn't a huge issue until after we drafted Joey, to which we started trying to justify our picks.

[mappiah19]

James Johnson's scouting report reminds me of what people said about Danny Granger in 2004.

I'm not seeing it. Granger was my top pick heading into the 2005 draft and I want nothing to do with Johnson at #9.

Honestly, it seems like you know which player would have panned out in each draft. Easy to say after watching them in the NBA for a couple of seasons.