ROUND 1: AJ Johnson - Poll Added

[econniption]

We'll see him in Vegas soon

And then China shortly thereafter.

Scrolling this thread looking for gems. Found my first.

Wouldn't mind a side gig as a screenwriting consultant

[Baddy Chuck]

Josh Primo before the weird stuff with a touch of Keon Ellis is the most optimism I can muster right now. That's a solid prospect. Could also just suck. Who knows. I would probably give the pick a D (no Primo) because I think unless these dudes really come out swinging fast we really misused assets that we should have been using to help this core win now. In a vacuum maybe a C? If we were a 20 win team maybe a B?

[blazza18]

I don't agree with the bust calls or complaining about taking him at 23 vs 33. Comparing it to drafting Giannis is a little over the top for me though considering the different circumstances the Bucks are in.

We're trying to win a title right now and as of today we've just spent two of our only ways to help do that by taking guys who are going to take some time to develop. It might not be the worst thing for the future but it is a little surprising and not the direction I would've gone.

[mattg]

I don't like prospects who choose to not go the traditional school route going to place that specifically WILL play young guys like the NBL, and not only was he not good enough to get on the court a ton, but when he did play he sucked. Like the entire reason you go the NBL route as an American HSer is to play, and if you're bad and can't play...ooof.

Not a fan of AJ Johnson as a prospect. Obviously he's got nice length/height and is a very fluid athlete with hops. Solid handles and seems willing to pass too.

BUT, I absolutely hate his gather and his footwork. He's not going to finish at the rim or be able to get to pull ups with any reliability. He does remind me of young Giannis in that baby deer out of control herky jerky sort of way...but the difference is Giannis can be all out of control herky jerky and get a half step on a defender and then just rise up and dunk the ball in traffic from the edge of the paint. Johnson is going to penetrate off the bounce and then get stalled up in the midrange area and have nothing. There's probably at least 3 posters on the Bucks board who would beat him in a 3pt shooting contest right now, no warmup.

The DeAaron Fox comparison is actually pretty good stylistically...but they aren't even remotely close to being on the same level (comparing as both 19 year olds) in any of their traits besides the physical tools.

[chonestown]

There's probably at least 3 posters on the Bucks board who would beat him in a 3pt shooting contest right now, no warmup.

Just let this one swirl round yon frontal lobes for a moment and luxuriate in it.

[GoldenAntlers]

For a bit of hope, consider this: AJ Johnson Jr. is younger than Rashad Vaughn and Rashad Vaughn is still quite young.

Wait, is he really a Junior?

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[drone3]

For a bit of hope, consider this: AJ Johnson Jr. is younger than Rashad Vaughn and Rashad Vaughn is still quite young.

Wait, is he really a Junior?

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using RealGM mobile app

Either way you slice it he's still not younger than Thon

[GoldenAntlers]

he does seem like a nice kid

Read on Twitter

would be thrilled to be wrong about it being a waste of a pick

He didn't cry. That's a great sign.

Every pick we've made that cried ended up being a bust.

Love his confidence going there and sitting in the stands. There's something to him.

[Bernman]

Wish we would have drafted a man. Shannon wpuld have been perfect here.

Or if we are drafting a you guy, Kyshawn George has tons of 3 pt range.

This is my thing, too.

If you’re drafting youth, there were certainly better prospects still available that are a lot closer than Johnson.

It's a bad thing. A lot of people griping about Johnson were ironically intrigued by George, when he sucked abroad even worse (in a worse league) than Johnson, then he sucked in college. As if Johnson couldn't have averaged 7.6 pts, 3 rebs, 2 asts, & play bad d, for a terrible team, as a 19-20 yr old collegiate. While moving around like a smaller Kyle Anderson.

Then, after George's poor season, he didn't have the cajones to compare himself to other prospects at the scrimmages, and say no he's actually better. Johnson did, & performed better than a good majority of them, almost all who were superior players in college or abroad to George.

[emunney]

Here's my thing with the draft writers who seem to really like Johnson but feel like it doesn't make sense for the Bucks to take a young player: if you think a guy could be one of the best players in the draft class, you can't also think it's going to take more a year for him to be useful. Like, of the super raw prospects that hit it big, how many of them were just unplayable for like 3 years first? It doesn't **** work like that.

[midranger]

Here's my thing with the draft writers who seem to really like Johnson but feel like it doesn't make sense for the Bucks to take a young player: if you think a guy could be one of the best players in the draft class, you can't also think it's going to take more a year for him to be useful. Like, of the super raw prospects that hit it big, how many of them were just unplayable for like 3 years first? It doesn't **** work like that.

Let’s assume best case scenario type situation. He ends up like one of the rail thin combo guards with no initially reliable jumper ceiling guys mentioned in this thread; Simons, Murray, Crawford.

Those guys were all mop up in year 1, back end of rotation in years 2+3 (8th-9th man types), and broke out in year 4.

Note: Murray was injured in his year 3.

I think that’s his best case scenario. I think all three of those guys were probably more advanced when they hit the nba skill set wise, but hard to evaluate with Johnson because there just ain’t much to go on.

[Fotis St]

Just logged in today... as usual Horst with the most unsexy pick in the draft ...

You d()mb$@%@ ...
if you want a ball handler just draft Kolek
If you want a tall guard just draft Cameron Christie
If you want multiple versatile big just drive Oso & Tyler Smith .... you @&#% our bed every year on draft days
We are sabotaged from within from our ring year till today. I think it comes from one or more of our owners , sellers / buyers something is going on ... Horst's is incapable of drafting , let him go to Detroit. Denver trading up to #22 to get DaRon Holmes smells like we wanted him and it was leaked once more. Horst should have either have a plan to trade up or not leak or have a trade down plan if DaRon and other bigs were picked earlier. AJ looks like a panic pick when DaRon was picked at #22 but there is literally no excuse ... Horst just had to follow one of my three roots and pick whoever.
Horst could have traded up to 8 and get Dillingham who I think has all star potential.

[Fotis St]

He was excluded from my board cause of his hairstyle... that DJ Wilson / Nwora hairstyle always triggers me the wrong way. I have never seen a good player with this hairstyle after Doctor J ... they always end up some dumb random guys who are out of the league in 2 years.

I am literally speechless. There should be a rule for every Bucks GM that if "your guy" you want to pick on the 1st round is not like Top 5 pick in the RealGM forum's collective mind ... just DON'T PICK HIM ...

[Fotis St]

The kid will average 5 minutes per game and after getting bored in the bench he will go home and average 9 hours per day playing NBA 2K25 on PS5

[Fotis St]

I remember this scenario were all good bigs were picked earlier .... this is how I got the idea of getting the Marquette duo ... Kolek & Oso ... or Christie and Tyler Smith ... I am curious to see how AJ 's NBA 3p shooting develops in the first 3 months or so.

Anyway, sorry for the post after post ... too many emotions I have to handle cause Horst has my dream job

[Sigra]

Looks like "6th man of the year" is best case scenario for this guy. Scorer from bench.

But not for years. Not while we contend.

Good luck to kid anyway.

[Fotis St]

We have been sabotaged by tre Celtics for years ..... there I said it

[RiotPunch]

He was excluded from my board cause of his hairstyle...

Never change, Fotis.

[Fotis St]

How in the hell can you have a strong opinion on a pick based on a couple hundred NBL minutes that you haven't even seen?

I know nothing about this dude so I don't have an opinion but I find it funny how many here are so confident in their bust or wasted pick labels. I wonder how many similar posts were made after Giannis was drafted. .

Day One after watching clips of Giannis : Tall Scottie Pippen potential (it was leaked since day one that Giannis frame indicates he will become a 7fter)

[drone3]

All I require from AJ for the next year is to be a Jedi in training. Dame is Yoda and will transform AJ into an asset just like he did with Anfernee Simons