James Johnson might have been the wrong pick?
about 2 years ago
SoulEater7
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Johnson is a project, he needs time to develop.
So, yes it’s a waste of a draft pick. Why draft high-risk/reward players when the team has no track record of doing that well with them? Makes no sense.
The 2009 White Sox....like a 40 degree day.
I thought they were saying both rookies could step in and play right away?
Taj has impressed me for a 26th pick but JJ looks out of shape and mentally unprepared to play. But what makes my the most upset is that Lawson would fit perfectly behind Rose and now he’s the Western Conference runner ups steal and contributing every night.
Lawson and Blair should probably been the picks for the Bulls.
Exactly, we need contributors now. Lawson could have played 20 minutes a game for us as Derrick’s backup and you could even play Lawson at PG and Rose at SG for a few minutes in a smallball lineup. Then we could have traded Kirk to make cap room
Yeah, leaving Lawson on the board on draft night killed me.
I mean, before the draft I was hoping the Bulls would have grabbed one of the good PGs who would surely still be there for our 2nd pick, but when I saw Lawson on the board at 16 I was dreaming of him backing up Rose. They probably didn’t look for a PG in this PG heavy draft bc of Hinrich… which makes me sad.
yeah, and then said almost immediately after the draft that JJ was better suited for the 3...
Ya know, the linebacker sized 3’s that are oh so common in the NBA these days:)
what was the case against lawson exactly?
i continue to be confused how he dropped so low, and why kahn didnt keep him and trade the 5 or 6 pick for veteran help. he destroyed everyone in the tournament, his college stats, measurements and athleticism are really similar to chris pauls. this guy is going to be pretty good. what were GMs thinking? this isnt even a hindsight thing; this was obvious.
"What is going on up here?"
"I never know, man."
His jumper is excellent.
1. Cut a hole in a box
2. Put your Kirk in that box
3. Make some team open that box
by fundamentallysound on Nov 15, 2009 10:18 PM CST up reply actions
It actually not too soon to say drafting Johnson was a mistake
Like Ozzie said, the Bulls have shown no ability to develop players — especially players like Johnson (cough…ty thomas…cough).
The Bulls were locked into drafting power forwards because they already knew that Ty Thomas is gone after this season.
So, I can’t decide which is worse: the fact we already know Johnson will be a bust with the Bulls or that Taj Gibson will be starting in 2010.
Ugh.
Johnson was a mistake. Even Hansborough is getting minutes and contributing. We didn’t need a project, we need someone who could at least play 20 minutes and give something. Johnson can’t even do 10. What is his role going to be? He’s not even a PF, not a SF….just another tweener. So he’s not even a Tyrus replacement. Wasted pick, pure and simple. He may turn out ok in a few years but we needed help NOW.
They got someone for NOW
We didn’t need a project, we need someone who could at least play 20 minutes and give something
Thats why they drafted 24 year old senior Taj Gibson.
The Bulls used their draft picks to replace Tyrus in case they need to trade him sometime this season. They got a hybrid 3/4 who wasnt ready to play (J J) with the hopes of him turning into someone who could guard a Rashard Lewis/Andreas Barnagni* type PF down the road.
They got Taj ( based on his performance Im gonna give the scouts credit) to help fill in at PF right away; which he has.
Sure there are players who were drafted after James that are playing well but there are also teams before the Bulls who have wasted picks.
The fact is that they could have had much better players for now and the future, but chose Johnson
There’s no getting around the fact that they failed to acquire the best talent they could have.
And the Bulls aren’t turning anyone into anything down they road. As far as I can tell no team fails more abjectly at player development.
The Bulls talent evaluation and management is simply one of the worst in the league.
by hitlesswonder on Nov 15, 2009 8:40 PM CST up reply actions
Every great point guard needs a great back up. The fact that Hinrch & Pargo are struggling
just puts more pressure on Rose to score points. Had they thought it out better by picking a solid hard working guy like Lawson behind Derrick I doubt people would be this worried about our scoring.
They let BG go and figured Pargo would step in and produce. That what really drives me crazy was that they didn’t address the guard depth in the draft even after having two picks.
So guess where the Bulls are struggling this season? Yup guard depth and scoring!
Now they can’t even deal Hinrich.
Great Pgs backups
Chris Paul – Darren Collison Hinrich
Tony Parker – George Hill Hinrich
Deron Willias – Ronnie Price I really like Price as a backup PG
Rajon Rondo- No one Hinrich
Chauncy Billups – Lawson Push cause Lawson looks good in long run
Steve Nash- Barbosa Push – Hinrich higher stats cause more mins.
Devin Harris -Rafer Alston Hinrich
ect.
My point is great or even good pgs dont need good backups. Who is the best PG tandem in the NBA? Rose/ Kirk would be up there. I like Denvers tandem and Utahs but beside that I like Derrick Kirk more than a lot of PG tandems. Also give Kirk the respect for having to come in every game and cleanup Derricks defensive messes…Calderon, Lou Willams ect.
WAIT WAIT WAIT
Blogabull wanted the bulls to pick johnson!!!!
http://www.blogabull.com/2009/6/19/918989/james-johnson-vs-clemson-the-most
http://www.blogabull.com/2009/6/22/921859/for-all-the-james-johnson
http://www.blogabull.com/2009/6/26/926077/my-james-johnson-profile
and this is kinda funny: http://www.blogabull.com/2009/6/26/926417/guessing-the-bulls-thought-process
On Behalf of Sue, Wjb, majoyenrac, Bullshooter and all the other Hinrich fans...Ill keep the Hinrich Hope coming...There will be light!
Well, I think my analysis was open ended enough that I was right on.
He’s still got all the talent in the world, and he’s continued to not live up to it.
For the 16th pick, I wasn’t super enthusiastic about him, but I wasn’t too enthusiastic about anyone, really. I liked Lawson a lot, and I think he would have fit in pretty well with what I wanted the Bulls to do (Think Rose-Gordon-Lawson as similar but better to what we see from Stuckey-Gordon-Bynum), but I’ll acknowledge it was very out of the box and a bit of a risk to take another PG. At then end of the day though, I don’t think taking the best talent is ever as big a risk as people think.
False. Large swaths of Blogabull wanted the Bulls to select DeJuan Blair.
I also advocated at various times for Lawson, Chase Budinger, and a couple others. Blair was my guy, though.
I was never very high on JJ.
1. Cut a hole in a box
2. Put your Kirk in that box
3. Make some team open that box
by fundamentallysound on Nov 16, 2009 12:10 PM CST up reply actions
I might have posted 500 comments about DeJuan Blair.
I knew absolutely nothing about JJ, someone said he was going to play SG, and others were calling him Carmelo Anthony.
The only rookies I was high about were Lawson, Blair, and Gerald Henderson.
The 2009 White Sox....like a 40 degree day.
by Ozzie Montana on Nov 16, 2009 1:13 PM CST up reply actions
Boo
We were all excited about Johnson’s athletic ability, but BaB was Blairville on draft night.
Yeah, I don't see those posts as evidence the consensus was for JJ
Being intrigued by his skills DNE saying he’s the guy. I think mostly people wanted Blaire
I was all for the best on the board at 16...
I didn’t think it was JJ, though you always hope your team’s execs know something you don’t know. I said a few times that I was a big ACC basketball fan and had absolutely no recollection of him, even though I watched WF play several times last year. If you’re not memorable in college, you rarely shine in the NBA.
I thought perhaps Blair would be our pick. Then when Lawson was there, shocked, I was hoping they’d grab him. I really wanted them to take a player they could use NOW with the first pick, and a backup PG with the 2nd pick, specifically Toney Douglas, who they could have had and who is shooting lights out (50%) for the Knicks, while putting up 15, 23, and 21 in the last 2 games off the bench…
This is the way i look at it
that draft was being considered one of the weakest in a long long while (ironic how many strong players are emerging from it though) i think the bulls picked jj as insurance for deng and tyrus, while also picking the best player at that position. Ty lawson has been playing well but i dont think anyone expects him to be a star player really, jennings is a surprise no one saw coming. Chase Budinger really didnt look that good, and i think there will always be players like him in drafts, its nothing special. Taj i think the bulls picked up for what we are seeing, he probably wont get much better than he is, and is probably gonna be a journey man his entire career, but teams that go through injuries or need a solid backup, they pick taj. So im not dissapointed.
Yea Everyone on blogabull wanted blair (i guess what i was trying to show was that not many people were against the pick after it happened, the taj pick is what really irked people…jj was considered a solid pick) but everyone knows the story of how every team pretty much passed on blair cuz of the red flags…
I was pretty much hoping they were gonna trade the 16th pick to begin with…but i dont think they made a mistake drafting james johnson….he was the best pick available both in terms of needs and talents, and i think he has a good chance of being a good player eventually…
On Behalf of Sue, Wjb, majoyenrac, Bullshooter and all the other Hinrich fans...Ill keep the Hinrich Hope coming...There will be light!
They don't need Johnson this year.
He’s a future Deng injury-replacement. They have Salmons for that this year, Hinrich to play SG. They got Gibson to be the 15 minute back up to the PF (Bosh, Stoudamire) they grab in 2010* and Johnson to play 15 mpg to back up Deng. Throw in Noah, Asik and Derrick Rose, and at that point, they’ll only be a very, very good SG away from being a favored title contender (or a lost very SG away from being “merely” a title contender).
*so they think
People should remember that while they have the right to their opinion, they are not entitled to be taken seriously. --Bruce Bartlett
indeed
i thought that was his role, johnson was more or less a stop gap, in case deng got injured…in case tyrus didnt pan out again so they didnt get TOO thin…i think the bulls really didnt expect tyrus to be out so early….
On Behalf of Sue, Wjb, majoyenrac, Bullshooter and all the other Hinrich fans...Ill keep the Hinrich Hope coming...There will be light!
by piccolomair on Nov 16, 2009 11:22 AM CST up reply actions
We needed shooters this year. People that can put the ball in the basket. Are we really going to be able to bring the talent out of Johnson ever? That’s why I was in favor of Lawson, Douglas, Budinger, Blair. Guys that aren’t gonna need a ton of work to be able to contribute. Cause Bulls org is terrible at development
by C Smoove on Nov 16, 2009 8:02 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
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