Thoughts on James Johnson?

This might be a topic for a separate post, but in a lot of these discussions there’s a take that the Org is so terrible at developing players. Relative to whom? I can’t think of too many organizations that are obviously better. When players “develop,” it’s usually a situation where they’re allowed to play to their strengths because the rest of the team can cover for their weaknesses. Thabo looks better in OKC but it’s not because he’s “developed”: he’s just fortunate to be on a team that can afford to have a non-scorer on the floor. How many teams, outside of Houston, are able to do that better than the Bulls?

The kid has handles, can bring the ball upcourt, and he has some crisp passing. He tends to camp out at the 3 point line and settle for open jumpers, but if he can make 45% of those, then he’ll find himself a niche in the NBA somewhere. I’m a little wary that he plays (and looks smaller) than his 6’9"/245 would suggest (He looked physically smaller than josh smith and marvin williams). He plays soft, but I can’t tell if that’s lack of physical strength, rookie awkwardness, or if that’s just his game – I’m hoping it’s just a little rookie awkwardness and he is not counting on ‘finesse’ to keep him in the NBA. The kid needs to hit the weights this summer with Noah and develop some post moves to complement his athleticism. This team don’t need another Brad Sellers. At least not yet.

At least a couple times last night, JJ took his man off the dribble, drove, and kicked out to… yes… Brad Miller behind the 3-point line. That’s right, Brad Miller behind the 3-point line. Yes, Brad Miller is shooting 29% from behind the arc compared to Rose’s 25%, but still, find someone else to kick out to, or take the ball all the way to the hole and get your ass fouled and to the line. JJ’s a good free throw shooter and needs to take advantage of that to help his team out.

I think the orver-arching theme of my JJ analysis is that he needs to toughen up and play a little more like a 6’9"/250 power forward – either that, or he’ll be bouncing around in this league before too long.

handles the ball in the open court extremely well for a 3. He looked absolutely lost at the start of the year, but has consistently improved. It’s tough to get him in, because the Bulls need Lu’s scoring and rebounding. He has the atheletic ability to be a good player. He should get time now so everyone can figure what he needs to work on this summer.

JJ is in trouble because he has no true position to me. A true tweener. He has handles,can shoot a bit, I’d like to see him learn to post up weaker 3s tho…. He could be like how Linas Kleiza was for the Nuggets. A 3/4 tweener who has bulk but can still shoot and give 10-12 pts/5 boards off the bench. If he could fill that role for us, I’d be happy.

lest we forget that GarPax the Great wanted to rid us of Deng in favor of Al Jefferson and an inside game. This would put a void at SF that, unless he was going to fill that position with another trade, would have resulted in JJ being plugged into the starting lineup for the rest of the season. This might have resulted in GP the Great going another way with the Tyrus and (perhaps picking up a more natural 3 than ). What I inference (a shaky endeavor with the subject of the Bulls organization) is that Chicago would potentially be confident moving forward with Johnson at the 3, at least for the remainder of the season. They see him everyday in practice and his former college coach recommended he play SF… so maybe that is his future.

IMO he seems to have the skill set to develop into a solid starting SF. However, I think there are limited opportunities, especially on the Bulls, for a 6-9 235 athletic PF with no real back-to-the-basket game.