!!! Before you read any part of this review, it's important to note that Johnson ONLY got 7 minutes per game coming off the bench. A lot of his stats are inflated, or not boosted enough because of his lackluster playing time and him not having the chance to really do anything, so a lot of question marks accompany Johnson's game. At the same time though, you can still get some idea of the type of player he is from his low volume splits and the little glimpses his film shows (I did have to reach a little though, so I might be completely off with some things). Take everything I say with a grain of salt, I only had 40-50 second highlight clips to go off of and unreliable stats... not very ideal... !!!
+
Likes:
From the very little dribbling he showed, I could kind of tell Johnson was a fine ball handler. He wasn't doing anything too impressive, but he did show he had a nice offensive bag and an okay dribble package, but it's hard to be sure as to how good he really is due to him not doing much with the ball most of the time. At least he wasn't turning the ball over, and what he showed looked to be enough... at least it helped him get to the rim or create for himself on the perimeter... at times...
I really could be reaching here, but Johnson plays with this certain type of energy which is kind of fun. Still plays like he's young, because he is, but instead of it being a detriment to his team like it usually is for other players, it's just entertaining and brings more life to his game, he's not out of control or out of it mentally, his youthfulness doesn't affect his IQ. He moves with this twitchiness and quickness which seemed hard to guard sometimes and it made him a more dangerous offensive weapon. Wouldn't be surprised if he could be a spark plug for whatever team picks him up.
And as to how young he is, he's currently 19 and won't be 20 until December.
Has a solid height (6'5) for a guy who's going to be running SG/PG. Nothing too crazy, especially for a SG, but not bad either and pretty decent for a PG.
Although he's not averaging many turnovers (0.5) or fouls (0.7), these stat lines are a little inflated due to his lack of playing time and productivity. Still nice though but wouldn't highlight them as a pro of his.
Johnson didn't look too athletic on film, but there were glimpses he had something. He showed he could dunk the ball and he had some hops to him, but what he showed the most was some speed and quick bursts offensively. His combine performances suggest he has some athleticism to him, even if it's nothing crazy. He did ok in the agility drills and the vertical drills, nothing really good but nothing too disappointing. Him showcasing some athletic feats in game, and him not bombing the combine performances is enough to put this is a like and not a worry. Would've been nice if we could see more of his athleticism on tape, and if he performed a bit better at the combine, but it's whatever.
+Worries:
Johnson's finishing ability is questionable. He seems decent around the rim, his drives can be nice and most of the time he gets some tough takes and and-1s, he can be a little crafty in the paint. He just doesn't drive anywhere near enough to be sold on his finishing ability... but it doesn't look bad currently.
Johnson's not that bad of a passer, but he's nothing special either. He reads the floor (although it can be a bit too blatant that he's doing so and he can be very open with what he wants to do next, his passes can easily be picked off if he continues doing this) but doesn't do anything notable after seeing what's going on on the court. He rarely has a good look, mostly all of his passes are basic, but he makes them look better than they actually are by adding some flashy elements to them. Doesn't pass anywhere near as often to be sold on his passing ability (as visible by the 0.6 assists he averaged per game), but he doesn't look to be a bad passer. Ended the season with a perfectly average assist/turnover ratio of 1.
+Dislikes:
It's so confusing to me as to Johnson even put his name in the draft, and plans on staying in the draft, if he had awful stats with low volume and little playing time. He was not productive at all this season at Illawarra, he only averaged 2 points, 0.6 assists, and 1.2 rebounds per game with 7 minutes off the bench. It's hard to grasp the type of player he is purely from the little time he was getting and his awful highlight reels. Johnson is probably the biggest potential pick I've seen so far. You're definitely not drafting him for what he showed he could do this year. I know some people are going to brush off his poor splits because "he's young and shows promise!" but I don't like that argument at all because more deserving players who proved themselves this season won't get drafted over an upside pick who could easily bust once in the league.
Doesn't do much (or really anything) defensively. On film, he could at times get some steals, but it wasn't common for him to do so, as visible from his outstanding 0.2 steals per game. He doesn't really force said steals either, he gets them in weird ways with them almost falling right to him every time. The loose balls he picks up happen more because of his opponents' decisions than because of his defensive presence. Other than for getting 0.2 steals, he's not doing anything else defensively, other than also getting 0.1 blocks per game.
Didn't see him get a rebound once, only averaged 1.2 rebounds per game this season.
Johnson does cut off the ball, he had some nice baseline runs which led to him scoring, but he's not moving off the ball enough to put this anywhere but a dislike, since in half, maybe more of his games he doesn't have any off-ball movement. Nothing too promising, even in the games he does cut, the most he will move around is like twice.
Needs to put on some more weight, way too skinny being only 160. His strength won't be good enough for when he's running PG, nonetheless SG.
Johnson wasn't shooting the ball very often, but he seemed like a decent three-point shooter on film. He self-created on the perimeter more than he attempted C&S', but I feel like he can probably still do that if needed to. Purely off of his tape, it was a little hard to grasp if Johnson was a good shooter or not, but once you look at his stats, it's not hard to realize Johnson was not a good shooter this season. Even with low volume, he wasn't getting good splits. He was only 30% from three this season and a bad 53% from the FT line, awful for a guard. He shows promise I guess, but his stats really counter the good stuff he showed on film, and I feel like I believe his splits more than anything. If he was really a good shooter, his stats should've looked better because with his little volume they should've been boosted, but with him performing bad, and with him only being 36% from the field, I struggle to like his shot at all.
+I expected a lot more out of Johnson. I really don't like him as a prospect, I think him entering his name in the draft is kinda stupid considering he doesn't show much promise and there are definitely better players available which should be taken over him. He does have potential, but I think if he wants to show that, he should stay another year and come back for the next draft. I don't think he should get drafted, but I wouldn't be surprised if a team takes a swing on him late-mid 2nd round (earlier than that would be insane in my opinion).