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Welcome Cam Johnson

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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#101 » by lilfishi22 » Thu Oct 3, 2019 12:52 am

ImNotMcDiSwear wrote:
MrMiyagi wrote:
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Cam's probably got a chip on his shoulder given the reaction to his selection. Fingers crossed it pays off.


What if the true irony of the McDonough era is that as soon as his successor takes over, rather than whiffing on high picks, the Suns start getting steals at low ones?

If Cam is legit, then this season's going to be a doozy.

McD picked Booker and TJ late in the lotto, Bogdan Bogdanović in the late 1st round and Bridges at #10. He arguably had more success picking outside of the top 10 than he ever did at the top of the lottery.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#102 » by MrMiyagi » Thu Oct 3, 2019 1:41 am

lilfishi22 wrote:
ImNotMcDiSwear wrote:
MrMiyagi wrote:Cam's probably got a chip on his shoulder given the reaction to his selection. Fingers crossed it pays off.


What if the true irony of the McDonough era is that as soon as his successor takes over, rather than whiffing on high picks, the Suns start getting steals at low ones?

If Cam is legit, then this season's going to be a doozy.

McD picked Booker and TJ late in the lotto, Bogdan Bogdanović in the late 1st round and Bridges at #10. He arguably had more success picking outside of the top 10 than he ever did at the top of the lottery.



I remember making the case against Bender for sure, and I think Chriss too, prior to the draft. They had not calling-card basketball skills. Bender could only sort of pass, sort of shoot, sort of defend in microscopic samples in a 3rd rate league (it really is laughable how much hype there was given how little footage there is). Chriss couldn't really rebound or defend or shoot or score other than jumping for lobs. Those are the guys you take in the late teens and 20s, not top 10.

Josh is a little harder to knock. I thought he would be a much better defender, not to mention I was fairly oblivious to his off-court issues. He might still figure out an NBA role, but I won't hold my breath. This miss seems way worse thanks to the previous draft. Especially with the whole Boston workout cancellation.

I know people like to ogle Luka and Trae, but Ayton is finally going to have a chance to play with a real point guard (maybe even two if Ty is good!) for the first time in his career. Yes, his defense still needs work, but he's going to be a 20 and 10 guy this season. And don't be too surprised if he starts getting some more blocks and steals either.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#103 » by lilfishi22 » Thu Oct 3, 2019 2:04 am

MrMiyagi wrote:
lilfishi22 wrote:
ImNotMcDiSwear wrote:
What if the true irony of the McDonough era is that as soon as his successor takes over, rather than whiffing on high picks, the Suns start getting steals at low ones?

If Cam is legit, then this season's going to be a doozy.

McD picked Booker and TJ late in the lotto, Bogdan Bogdanović in the late 1st round and Bridges at #10. He arguably had more success picking outside of the top 10 than he ever did at the top of the lottery.



I remember making the case against Bender for sure, and I think Chriss too, prior to the draft. They had not calling-card basketball skills. Bender could only sort of pass, sort of shoot, sort of defend in microscopic samples in a 3rd rate league (it really is laughable how much hype there was given how little footage there is). Chriss couldn't really rebound or defend or shoot or score other than jumping for lobs. Those are the guys you take in the late teens and 20s, not top 10.

Josh is a little harder to knock. I thought he would be a much better defender, not to mention I was fairly oblivious to his off-court issues. He might still figure out an NBA role, but I won't hold my breath. This miss seems way worse thanks to the previous draft. Especially with the whole Boston workout cancellation.

I know people like to ogle Luka and Trae, but Ayton is finally going to have a chance to play with a real point guard (maybe even two if Ty is good!) for the first time in his career. Yes, his defense still needs work, but he's going to be a 20 and 10 guy this season. And don't be too surprised if he starts getting some more blocks and steals either.

I wasn't a fan of Bender nor Chriss and hated it even more that we doubled down and got them both in the same draft.

I was a Tatum guy in 2017 but he was already off the board and while I wasn't really a fan of JJ, I wasn't really against him either because of his athleticism, dynamism, defense and skill set.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#104 » by bwgood77 » Thu Oct 3, 2019 2:33 am

lilfishi22 wrote:
MrMiyagi wrote:
lilfishi22 wrote:McD picked Booker and TJ late in the lotto, Bogdan Bogdanović in the late 1st round and Bridges at #10. He arguably had more success picking outside of the top 10 than he ever did at the top of the lottery.



I remember making the case against Bender for sure, and I think Chriss too, prior to the draft. They had not calling-card basketball skills. Bender could only sort of pass, sort of shoot, sort of defend in microscopic samples in a 3rd rate league (it really is laughable how much hype there was given how little footage there is). Chriss couldn't really rebound or defend or shoot or score other than jumping for lobs. Those are the guys you take in the late teens and 20s, not top 10.

Josh is a little harder to knock. I thought he would be a much better defender, not to mention I was fairly oblivious to his off-court issues. He might still figure out an NBA role, but I won't hold my breath. This miss seems way worse thanks to the previous draft. Especially with the whole Boston workout cancellation.

I know people like to ogle Luka and Trae, but Ayton is finally going to have a chance to play with a real point guard (maybe even two if Ty is good!) for the first time in his career. Yes, his defense still needs work, but he's going to be a 20 and 10 guy this season. And don't be too surprised if he starts getting some more blocks and steals either.

I wasn't a fan of Bender nor Chriss and hated it even more that we doubled down and got them both in the same draft.

I was a Tatum guy in 2017 but he was already off the board and while I wasn't really a fan of JJ, I wasn't really against him either because of his athleticism, dynamism, defense and skill set.


Yeah, I wanted Isaac over JJ, but convinced myself with JJ too and convinced myself for one of the only times it will be fine to take a wing that talented that can't shoot. Will be hard to convince myself ever again to take a guard or wing that can't shoot...though that's the reason I didn't like Fox either and he at least had the work ethic to learn to shoot. JJ did ok from 3 the last month but he was terrible inside the arc the whole year. Such a weird player because he has some talent in him somewhere.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#105 » by sunsbum » Thu Oct 3, 2019 3:17 am

Ty Jerome.
<---- :curse:

I come back from summer vaca to this tinypic bullshite again?
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#106 » by Saberestar » Sun Oct 13, 2019 9:59 am

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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#107 » by Dual » Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:34 am

I'm just loving this guy already.
Great pick that's for sure 8-)
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#108 » by sunsbg » Sun Oct 13, 2019 11:51 am

Dual wrote:I'm just loving this guy already.
Great pick that's for sure 8-)


Well, CJ at least may turn elite in a much coveted skill(3PT shooting) compared to the other guy they didn't draft and brings the same skill(scoring) compared with the guy that was traded. He's also a likable guy that accepts his role.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#109 » by Saberestar » Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:22 am

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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#110 » by lilfishi22 » Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:19 pm

I've liked what I seen so far from him. He's played his part, not forcing anything and has been solid. I do like that he doesn't turn the ball over (3TO's in nearly 100min of play) and even managed to get to the line 4 times. It's obviously not some great FT rate but it's certainly better than Ayton's big fat zero
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#111 » by ATTL » Mon Nov 11, 2019 8:25 pm



He moves a lot better than he was advertised going into and after the draft.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#112 » by NTB » Mon Nov 11, 2019 8:31 pm

ATTL wrote:https://youtu.be/acYSx8Cn3zY

He moves a lot better than he was advertised going into and after the draft.


He is so fun to watch especially when his shots are going in.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#113 » by WeekapaugGroove » Thu Nov 14, 2019 3:56 am

I like Cam. He's a much more complete player than I was expecting. His shot is 100% for real, his stroke is so repeatable and fluid. As long as his health holds he's a 10+ year rotation piece.

I think I figured out why the suns drafted him... He's the anti Josh Jackson. You really couldn't find two more different wings. Josh bad shooter with weird form, Cam good shooter and good form. Josh gets ball tries to drive wildly to the hole, Cam gets ball shoots or passes immediately. Defense Josh made some splashy plays but was out of position a lot, Cam no splash plays but is mostly where he should be. Josh had some upside to be a star, cam probably doesn't.

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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#114 » by lilfishi22 » Thu Nov 14, 2019 4:25 am

WeekapaugGroove wrote:I like Cam. He's a much more complete player than I was expecting. His shot is 100% for real, his stroke is so repeatable and fluid. As long as his health holds he's a 10+ year rotation piece.

I think I figured out why the suns drafted him... He's the anti Josh Jackson. You really couldn't find two more different wings. Josh bad shooter with weird form, Cam good shooter and good form. Josh gets ball tries to drive wildly to the hole, Cam gets ball shoots or passes immediately. Defense Josh made some splashy plays but was out of position a lot, Cam no splash plays but is mostly where he should be. Josh had some upside to be a star, cam probably doesn't.

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The shot is real. It's the other things which I need more sample data before I'm ready to really judge him as an NBA player. He's played above my expectations even though he hasn't really been that impressive from production standpoint but just his handling of the ball, movement off the ball and some defensive plays have been surprising.

The concern is that he isn't some young kid and so his development ceiling is lower than most rookies. For me, he'll need to really be able to develop more than just consistently good 3PT shooting clip because you don't pick a strictly shooter only player that high in the draft.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#115 » by WeekapaugGroove » Thu Nov 14, 2019 4:44 am

lilfishi22 wrote:
WeekapaugGroove wrote:I like Cam. He's a much more complete player than I was expecting. His shot is 100% for real, his stroke is so repeatable and fluid. As long as his health holds he's a 10+ year rotation piece.

I think I figured out why the suns drafted him... He's the anti Josh Jackson. You really couldn't find two more different wings. Josh bad shooter with weird form, Cam good shooter and good form. Josh gets ball tries to drive wildly to the hole, Cam gets ball shoots or passes immediately. Defense Josh made some splashy plays but was out of position a lot, Cam no splash plays but is mostly where he should be. Josh had some upside to be a star, cam probably doesn't.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

The shot is real. It's the other things which I need more sample data before I'm ready to really judge him as an NBA player. He's played above my expectations even though he hasn't really been that impressive from production standpoint but just his handling of the ball, movement off the ball and some defensive plays have been surprising.

The concern is that he isn't some young kid and so his development ceiling is lower than most rookies. For me, he'll need to really be able to develop more than just consistently good 3PT shooting clip because you don't pick a strictly shooter only player that high in the draft.
Sure he probably doesn't have some super high ceiling. I said when they picked him his upside was korver and I still feel that way but I'm now more bullish on him getting there. Like korver defensively he can be fine just by being 6'8 and not messing up and playing hard. I like how he he's always moving and looking for spots on the perimeter, it's very vet like. A guy like that's a valuable rotation player who provides nice gravity because you just can't double off him.

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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#116 » by lilfishi22 » Thu Nov 14, 2019 5:11 am

WeekapaugGroove wrote:
lilfishi22 wrote:
WeekapaugGroove wrote:I like Cam. He's a much more complete player than I was expecting. His shot is 100% for real, his stroke is so repeatable and fluid. As long as his health holds he's a 10+ year rotation piece.

I think I figured out why the suns drafted him... He's the anti Josh Jackson. You really couldn't find two more different wings. Josh bad shooter with weird form, Cam good shooter and good form. Josh gets ball tries to drive wildly to the hole, Cam gets ball shoots or passes immediately. Defense Josh made some splashy plays but was out of position a lot, Cam no splash plays but is mostly where he should be. Josh had some upside to be a star, cam probably doesn't.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

The shot is real. It's the other things which I need more sample data before I'm ready to really judge him as an NBA player. He's played above my expectations even though he hasn't really been that impressive from production standpoint but just his handling of the ball, movement off the ball and some defensive plays have been surprising.

The concern is that he isn't some young kid and so his development ceiling is lower than most rookies. For me, he'll need to really be able to develop more than just consistently good 3PT shooting clip because you don't pick a strictly shooter only player that high in the draft.
Sure he probably doesn't have some super high ceiling. I said when they picked him his upside was korver and I still feel that way but I'm now more bullish on him getting there. Like korver defensively he can be fine just by being 6'8 and not messing up and playing hard. I like how he he's always moving and looking for spots on the perimeter, it's very vet like. A guy like that's a valuable rotation player who provides nice gravity because you just can't double off him.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

Not super keen to re-prosecute the drafting Cam at #11 and it's just my view on the draft in general but taking a specialist that doesn't do much else that high is not something I'm in favor of which is why I want/need Cam to be more than that. If he's able to become a smart and effective team defender even if he isn't a good individual defender like Korver would make the pick a lot more reasonable.

I just think you can find specialists later in the draft but we took who we took so it is what it is. Just hope he's not *just* a shooter that's all.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#117 » by DJ_3_Ball » Thu Nov 14, 2019 8:15 am

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a chance to watch much Phoenix Suns' basketball this season. I did watch a video on Youtube by one of my favorite NBA Youtubers that focused on the Suns start this season. If anyone is interested, the video is by MDJ and it's called "The Phoenix Suns aren't terrible anymore".

This post is about Cameron Johnson, though. I was a fan of him in the pre-draft scouting leading up to last year's draft. Kept hoping he would slide to the late 1st round, and my Mavs' could move up & grab him. Turns out to be a pipe dream, but he was projected in the mid 20s at that time. Fwiw, I think he's the exact missing piece the Mavs need. A guy who can fill it up from 3, doesn't need the ball in his hands, and gives space for Luka to work. A guy you can depend on for 15 ppg.

These are outside observations, though. How do Suns' fans feel about him? Is he James Jones 2.0 (when James was in his prime), or does he look more like a Doug McDermott type, a bit more inconsistent, or does it still look up in the air? It seems like he's gaining the trust of Coach Williams and earning a bit more playing time. Do you guys feel his acquisition is what made TJ Warren expendable? Does he have other strengths besides shooting?

I know that's a lot of questions, but just very intrigued by this player. Thanks.


Edit: Just seeing some of the comments talking about his draft position. This is just my own opinion, but I think draft position is something fans & media worry about within the first 2 years of the draft or so. There's a lot of players who when you look at them 5 years down the line, you really don't remember where they were drafted. 5 years in, you have so much familiarity with that player, you just judge them on their skills & accomplishments. I mean, I can't tell you where Domantas Sabonis was drafted (without looking it up), and I don't remember much about how he wasn't very productive early in his career. All I know now is Sabonis is a very productive player. Or how about Doug McDermott and Kyle Korver. One was a lottery pick the other a 2nd rounder. Does anybody remember who was who without looking?

I just find draft position so arbitrary, after the fact. From an organizational standpoint, if you continue to draft contributors, even if you reach for a player, you'll wind up with a good team. Or at the very least, a lot of valuable assets to make moves with. For example, Cameron Johnson might wind up not quite fitting in with the Suns (I don't think so but it's early & a possibility). Still, he has a skill very much in-demand in today's NBA. A team missing that skill set might be willing to offer more in value than the spot he was drafted at. If that makes sense. Like I don't see the merits of going "OMG why didn't we draft PJ Washington???". You're not going to draft perfectly with the most optimal/best player every time. Maybe the Suns, said we have some guys we like but they're 50/50 guys. We could hit or miss on them. But, there's this Cameron Johnson kid who we're very confident will at least make our rotation. They take him & move on. I don't think that's a bad plan.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#118 » by bwgood77 » Thu Nov 14, 2019 2:44 pm

WeekapaugGroove wrote:
lilfishi22 wrote:
WeekapaugGroove wrote:I like Cam. He's a much more complete player than I was expecting. His shot is 100% for real, his stroke is so repeatable and fluid. As long as his health holds he's a 10+ year rotation piece.

I think I figured out why the suns drafted him... He's the anti Josh Jackson. You really couldn't find two more different wings. Josh bad shooter with weird form, Cam good shooter and good form. Josh gets ball tries to drive wildly to the hole, Cam gets ball shoots or passes immediately. Defense Josh made some splashy plays but was out of position a lot, Cam no splash plays but is mostly where he should be. Josh had some upside to be a star, cam probably doesn't.

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The shot is real. It's the other things which I need more sample data before I'm ready to really judge him as an NBA player. He's played above my expectations even though he hasn't really been that impressive from production standpoint but just his handling of the ball, movement off the ball and some defensive plays have been surprising.

The concern is that he isn't some young kid and so his development ceiling is lower than most rookies. For me, he'll need to really be able to develop more than just consistently good 3PT shooting clip because you don't pick a strictly shooter only player that high in the draft.
Sure he probably doesn't have some super high ceiling. I said when they picked him his upside was korver and I still feel that way but I'm now more bullish on him getting there. Like korver defensively he can be fine just by being 6'8 and not messing up and playing hard. I like how he he's always moving and looking for spots on the perimeter, it's very vet like. A guy like that's a valuable rotation player who provides nice gravity because you just can't double off him.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app


Not sure about ceiling..it did feel like a safe but not real high ceiling draft pick being a 4 (or 5) year guy. But being a smart player who can get his shot off quickly is nice. You can look at other players who played multiple years on college so were not the 1 and done guys who most usually consider having the highest ceilings. Heck, the whole original core of the Warriors record breaking team. He looks somewhat like a Klay Thompson light offensively but at worst a Channing Frye/James Jones type. I wanted the defensive 4 but if Ayton's 1st game is indicative of how he will play going forward that's not as big of an issue.
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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#119 » by WeekapaugGroove » Thu Nov 14, 2019 3:10 pm

Time will tell if it's the 'right' pick.

I will say after watching the Suns for 10 games I understand why he was the pick more than I did back in June. I did not think Monty was going to run such a heavy 3pt shooting offense because it's not what he ran in NO. But guys philosophies change and with how it's apparent they want to play he's a good fit for their style.



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Re: Welcome Cam Johnson 

Post#120 » by Desertfox » Thu Nov 14, 2019 6:31 pm

I didn't think he was the right pick then, and I don't think he is the right pic now. The reason is simple, 3-point shooting specialist SFs are a dime a dozen in the NBA and SF was not a position of need for the Suns. What we needed was a future starter-quality PF or PG, of which there were plenty available (Clarke, Washington, NAW). Guess what are our positions of need going into next year's draft? PF and PG...

Can Cam turn into a starter-quality player? Sure he can, except he is in the same position as both Oubre and Bridges. He looks like he will be a good player going forward but he was not what the Suns needed and the Suns didn't have the luxury of picking up backup SFs. How useful would Clarke or Washington have been against the Lakers, where the Suns were clearly lacking size?

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