Jalen Johnson

[BatManu20]

Anyone else been noticing this kid? Is quietly having a pretty good season for the Atlanta Hawks.

I know the Spurs worked him out before the 2021 Draft and there were rumors we were interested in him. Ended up going 20th overall to ATL.

Just turned 22 a couple weeks ago and is averaging 15/8/3/1 on 59% shooting & 41% from 3 in 18 games this season. Great athlete and is already projecting as a good 3&D player. Another kid that PATFO bypassed for Pee-Wee Primo :cry

Looks like ATL might’ve gotten a steal tbh. Kid looks solid this year.


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[BatManu20]

IIRC there was a poster in here that really wanted him before the draft. Can’t remember who exactly tbh. But he had a fan or two in here during pre-draft stuff.

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[SpursBills]

That entire 2021 draft was completely unforgivable by the front office.

[Robz4000]

That entire 2021 draft was completely unforgivable by the front office.

Same with most of BWrong's drafts tbh.

[spurraider21]

yeah. he's come completely out of nowhere after being a virtual nothing his first 2 years

to be frank, its kind of a reminder to be patient with guys on rookie deals. i hate on branham/sochan all the time, but theyre still 20. but its harder to be patient when these kids who cant play yet are thrust into 30 mpg roles :lol

atlanta has had guys like Bey, Hunter, Bogdanovic eat those minutes as he worked on his game

[SpursBills]

Same with most of BWrong's drafts tbh.

2020 is fine - Vassell over Haliburton is bad in retrospect, but the spurs had Dejounte and White; if you saw Haliburton turning into an offensive superstar at that time you're better than 95% of experts at the time.
2022 looks bad now, but Sochan is still young and can become something. This entire board was celebrating when they got Branham at 20. Wesley was a swing and a pre-draft of a Jaden Ivey-type player. None of those picks was bad at the time.

2021 was just an abortion of a draft in every way. The entire front office should have been fired wholesale after that. The entire board and all of draft twitter was screaming for Sengun who was the most obvious pick since Luka. Wright ended up picking a guy who even if he didn't have his flashing issues was below average in every way. Even now with the clippers josh primo is 21 and has thus far shown absolutely nothing suggesting he's an nba caliber player. They missed on Sengun, Jalen Johnson, Trey murphy, etc. Fuck, if they had gotten quentin grimes, herb jones, or ayo dosunmu it would have been better. That is the single worst draft performance I've ever seen, completely defied all logic.

[John B]

IIRC there was a poster in here that really wanted him before the draft. Can’t remember who exactly tbh. But he had a fan or two in here during pre-draft stuff.

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B-but ST posters said he’s not Spurs material

[TekXX]

I'm still confused what the Spurs scouts saw in Primo, dude was slow as molasses.

[Chinook]

Wasn't Jalen like the Cam Whitmore of his draft year? I don't remember if I liked him or not (I would assume so, given that I was desperate for a PF at the time, but I may have been turned off by character concerns), but this is why the gambles exist. Sometimes they work out, even spectacularly. But sometimes like with Samanic, they don't work out. And sometimes, like Porter Jr, they REALLY don't work out. The 2021 draft was obviously the worst draft the Spurs have had in the last decade, somehow even worse than the 2015 draft. I didn't like the logic behind drafting Primo. But you also need to trust your scouting department and board. Hopefully they've fixed whatever hole there was in the process that let Josh slip through. Nobody wants to see a situation like that again. But Wright can't GM scared either. There's no point in making all these picks if you aren't going to get the guys you want.

[objective]

yeah. he's come completely out of nowhere after being a virtual nothing his first 2 years

to be frank, its kind of a reminder to be patient with guys on rookie deals. i hate on branham/sochan all the time, but theyre still 20. but its harder to be patient when these kids who cant play yet are thrust into 30 mpg roles :lol

atlanta has had guys like Bey, Hunter, Bogdanovic eat those minutes as he worked on his game

I wouldn't say he was out of nowhere or in a similar situation as Spurs young players

He was in the g-league, he was injured, and he played the same position as an entrenched, legit good starter in John Collins.

Collins gets dumped and he gets healthy = he gets opportunities and produces

Sochan and Branham have definitely had plenty of opportunities, only Wesley could be in some comparison, though Johnson was much better in the gleague. Wesley doesn't even have an entrenched starter ahead of him, just a menagerie of scrubs

Wright hasn't proven that he can judge talent at a high enough level. Johnson did have a rep as a me-first kind of guy with what happened at Duke, but at least he wasn't shaking it to everyone like a car lot inflatable.

Wright was director of scouting in Detroit for Stanley Johnson and the prep for Henry Ellenson.

When you consider that Sengun, Johnson and Murphy were all there and he still went with Primo who was slow as all hell with a below the rim game ... Wright doesn't know what he's doing. Primo couldn't get a step on summer league scrubs but Wright just loved his Babyface I guess

Add in stuff like the Collins extension and bidding against himself in a big way ...

Oof

No confidence in Wright

[Jordan Jackson]

Wright got scared because Jalen had “red flags”. Then proceeds to reach for Primo - the safe pick. The irony there should be lost on no one.

[TheGreatYacht]

This team would be a championship contender if it was ran by me, instead of the guy that got fired from the Pistons


Wouldn't be mad at Jalen Johnson at 12 either. Anyone but that college benchwarmer Kai Jones

Jalen Johnson was the clear cut guy to pick at 12th and they picked some combo scrub that wasn't even the 4th option at ALABAMA :lmao

[TheGreatYacht]

That being said. Draft Dillingham and Dunn this year, BWrong, if you’re reading this. Free advice for you retard

[onechance87]

That being said. Draft Dillingham and Dunn this year, BWrong, if you’re reading this. Free advice for you retard

not cody williams over dunn?

[TheGreatYacht]

not cody williams over dunn?
I’m expecting the Raptors to take off and move our pick to around the 14 range. I don’t think there’s a player in that range within most mock drafts that fit our needs more than Dunn. He’s the best defender in the draft and will be an All Defensive player in his career. He can’t shoot for shit (like, at all.) but unlike all the other scrubs on this team that can’t, he’s elite on the other end. Spacing should be fine if Sochan can keep his 3p% where it’s at right now and Victor can improve his to at least 32-34%

Wemby should be getting DPOY shouts right now but that’s never going to happen on the 28th ranked defense. Having two ELITE defenders in the starting lineup might motivate Sochan and Vassell to start giving a shit on that end and bring out the potential all of you keep talking about on that end.

Point guard and defense are our two biggest needs. Dillingham and Dunn are the best players to give us that IMO.

[The Truth #6]

Jalen had flags for character issues, quitting on his team, changing schools iirc. And I remember posters here evaluating his defense and showing how poor it was very often in his rotations suggesting poor motivation and motor. He was a Samanich-esque gamble. He had high bust potential. If he did well later I would give credit to the coaching staff on the Hawks more than blame all the GMs that passed on him. No guarantee he would have developed on the Spurs with our current coaches and environment.

[exstatic]

Jalen had flags for character issues, quitting on his team, changing schools iirc. And I remember posters here evaluating his defense and showing how poor it was very often in his rotations suggesting poor motivation and motor. He was a Samanich-esque gamble. He had high bust potential. If he did well later I would give credit to the coaching staff on the Hawks more than blame all the GMs that passed on him. No guarantee he would have developed on the Spurs with our current coaches and environment.

This. He went to multiple HSs, got a scholarship to Duke, and left after 13 games because he and his group felt he wasn’t getting enough playing time. Spurs were probably still stung by the Kawhi thing, and had a bad feeling about the influence and interference of his family. JJ would be the poster child of the broken AAU system.

He’s not exactly blowing up,more like he finally showing that he’s a rotation level player in his third season.

[spurraider21]

Good thing we got Primo instead of the guy with character issues

[mo7888]

I had him #11 on my BB that draft..

draft tiers
Tier 1:
Cade Cunningham
Evan Mobley

Tier 2:
Jonathan Kuminga
Franz Wagner
Jalen Green
Scottie Barnes
Jalen Suggs
Moses Moody
Alperen Sengun
James Bouknight

Tier 3:
Jalen Johnson
Kai Jones
Corey Kispert
Isaiah Jackson
Chris Duarte
Jaden Springer

[NASpurs]

Good thing we got Primo instead of the guy with character issues

:lol

[heyheymymy]

Where is Dejounte

JJ was his target for a while there

[CGD]

I had him #11 on my BB that draft..

draft tiers
Tier 1:
Cade Cunningham
Evan Mobley

Tier 2:
Jonathan Kuminga
Franz Wagner
Jalen Green
Scottie Barnes
Jalen Suggs
Moses Moody
Alperen Sengun
James Bouknight

Tier 3:
Jalen Johnson
Kai Jones
Corey Kispert
Isaiah Jackson
Chris Duarte
Jaden Springer

Impressive that you had this list. Just a sober reminder that once you get so far into the draft, there are many folks that bust (Bouknight, Williams, Primo, Duarte, Jones, Mitchell TBD).

[Mugen]

This. He went to multiple HSs, got a scholarship to Duke, and left after 13 games because he and his group felt he wasn’t getting enough playing time. Spurs were probably still stung by the Kawhi thing, and had a bad feeling about the influence and interference of his family. JJ would be the poster child of the broken AAU system.

He’s not exactly blowing up,more like he finally showing that he’s a rotation level player in his third season.


Good thing we got Primo instead of the guy with character issues

:lmao

[spurraider21]

I wouldn't say he was out of nowhere or in a similar situation as Spurs young players

He was in the g-league, he was injured, and he played the same position as an entrenched, legit good starter in John Collins.

Collins gets dumped and he gets healthy = he gets opportunities and produces

Sochan and Branham have definitely had plenty of opportunities, only Wesley could be in some comparison, though Johnson was much better in the gleague. Wesley doesn't even have an entrenched starter ahead of him, just a menagerie of scrubs

Wright hasn't proven that he can judge talent at a high enough level. Johnson did have a rep as a me-first kind of guy with what happened at Duke, but at least he wasn't shaking it to everyone like a car lot inflatable.

Wright was director of scouting in Detroit for Stanley Johnson and the prep for Henry Ellenson.

When you consider that Sengun, Johnson and Murphy were all there and he still went with Primo who was slow as all hell with a below the rim game ... Wright doesn't know what he's doing. Primo couldn't get a step on summer league scrubs but Wright just loved his Babyface I guess

Add in stuff like the Collins extension and bidding against himself in a big way ...

Oof

No confidence in Wright
Johnson played 70 games for the hawks last year. It’s not like he was buried in the gleague. And he was largely ineffective

[SouthernFryd]

That being said. Draft Dillingham and Dunn this year, BWrong, if you’re reading this. Free advice for you retard

Thanks for the Heads up. Looked closely at them both.

I REALLY like Dunn. I love Smart AND athletic Defensive players. This guy has both.

I still like TOPIC over Dillingham tho. Dillingham's small size is a factor, couple that with poor D...Topic doesn't have good D either, but I think his court awareness is off the charts good. Dillingham is a better shooter I think, but Topic is more of a facilitator and he can get to the bucket just as well, if not better than Dillingham. Just not as athletic doing it. Dillingham looks too similar to what we already have, imho. ;)

My top 2 choices now would be TOPIC & DUNN...which sounds like the name of a band. lol

[Uriel]

Jalen Johnson was highly touted during his high school years, being one of the top players in his class, but his stock fell following a forgettable year at Duke during which he was perceived to have quit on his team.

A little bit similar to Derrick Lively in which he was seen as the #1 player in his high school class, but his stock fell a little bit after an underwhelming freshman campaign in college.

Perhaps the lesson is that we should be taking high school performance more seriously?

[spurraider21]

He went to multiple HSs
https://i.gifer.com/K1YP.gif

[vy65]

Same with most of BWrong's drafts tbh.

YOu soN of A BItch, i’M In

[objective]

Johnson played 70 games for the hawks last year. It’s not like he was buried in the gleague. And he was largely ineffective

He was gleague as a rookie

And people who watched the Hawks closely like the Locked On Hawks podcast and assorted guests were very high on Johnson after last season and were forecasting good things for him this year without Collins around.

[timtonymanu]

:lol primo. I love how posters on here were freaking out that the clippers signed him only for him to show absolutely nothing like most of us knew and expected. Fake posters like Mr. Body were wanting in with that predator.

[Tyronn Lue]

I'm still confused what the Spurs scouts saw in Primo, dude was slow as molasses.
We know what the shrink saw.

[BatManu20]

Still ballin’. Should be a Spur rn. Just the type of two-wing we need to surround Wemby with tbh.

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[Mr. Body]

The guy quit in college. It's a goddamn miracle he turned out to be anything at all.

[exstatic]

He’s no better than our guys. Y’all just cherry picking the good outings.

[Maddog]

It's really interesting that there are two threads talking about obtaining Hawks players or missing out.
And the DJM thread has often morphed into going after Trae Young.

All this on a sub 500 team

[Leetonidas]

He’s no better than our guys. Y’all just cherry picking the good outings.

15/8 on 56% from the field and 40% from three (.649 TS%). Dude would instantly be our 2nd or 3rd best player :lol tf you talking about no better than our guys?

[Mr. Body]

He's a nice player. There was like a one in a hundred chance he panned out anywhere. Somehow it worked in Atlanta.

[objective]

While Johnson is a very good player, arguably the bigger scouting fail was Jalen Williams who would easily be the Spurs second best player.

And it's not a big surprise either. Before the draft I basically wrote how Jalen was really the player that people pretended Primo was going to be. He's talked about by the media as a guy who would third or fourth in a redraft with Banchero and Chet, and has been talked about being one of OKC's new 'big three'.

Spurs need to trade those extra picks for proven players before BWrong strikes out again

[itzsoweezee]

I wanted the spurs to take him but people here were freaking out over some meaningless bullshit at duke.

In the end, it didn’t matter because primo’s shitiness contributed to the spurs landing wemby

[The Truth #6]

Yeah, Jalen Williams would have been great. Jalen Johnson had Luka bust vibes, arguably. That's why he dropped.

[baseline bum]

Jalen Johnson was highly touted during his high school years, being one of the top players in his class, but his stock fell following a forgettable year at Duke during which he was perceived to have quit on his team.

A little bit similar to Derrick Lively in which he was seen as the #1 player in his high school class, but his stock fell a little bit after an underwhelming freshman campaign in college.

Perhaps the lesson is that we should be taking high school performance more seriously?

Then again you get guys like Austin Rivers who looked like a star in high school, got exposed at Duke, and then was dogshit in the NBA.

[exstatic]

15/8 on 56% from the field and 40% from three (.649 TS%). Dude would instantly be our 2nd or 3rd best player :lol tf you talking about no better than our guys?

He’d be the forum whipping boy in a week.