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Obviously it's still early and draft positioning have and will continue to fluctuate, but all the NBA mock drafts I've seen thust far, have him projected as a late first or early second.
He was never in the lottery in any mock at any time. Every mock I looked at from the beginning had him very close to where the Spurs were picking., 19 players better than the big 12 POY...Without injuries I have no doubt he would gone in the lottery.
Obviously it's still early and draft positioning have and will continue to fluctuate, but all the NBA mock drafts I've seen thust far, have him projected as a late first or early second.
JaJuan Johnson player profile according to ESPN:
Projection
First Round Bubble Pick
Positives
Long, athletic big man
Good shot-blocker
Explosive leaper
Quick, runs the floor well
Nice mid range jumper
Negatives
Needs to add strength to his frame
Still developing a low post game
Basketball IQ seems to be an issue
i mark two realistic option for our pick that will be great fit, JaJuan Johnson is one of them, the other is David Lighty.
Johnson will give us athletic dimension for our front court, he plays both ends of the court, has reliable mid range shot, he is ready to contribute and with McDyess retiring he could help and enter the bigs rotation.
remind me Taj Gibson and Jordan Hill!
I like this guy. I am actually quite surprised he is projected around the Spurs pick. His lack of weight does bother me though. It makes me kind of wonder if the Spurs were to pick him, if he could be used at the 3 if say Splitter, Duncan are on the floor together. Triple Towers. :P
not that it means much but Nbadraft.net now has Johnson going to Spurs with 29th pick
Hmmm. The prospect of Johnson at SF? The concept of Pop featuring a player that is bigger for his position, rather than throwing out a player that is undersized for his position, would be a philosophy change for him - albeit a welcomed one.
The 2nd coming of Jared Jefferies, can't wait
In fairness to Johnson he is a much better shooter than Jefferies
This year's Carlos Boozer.
Except he's 4 inches shorter.
Hibbert in no way plays like a 7 footer since he likes to play away from the basket...The problem is Johnson likes to do the same thing
THe fact that Johnson's age (22) will likely work against him, could be a positive for the Spurs, who often seem to favor mature, young players. Johnson is the rare, improving senior from a big school. The consensus of most scouts and teams is that any player worth his stock would never stay in school four years. I guess people have long forgot about a kid former player-of-the-year named Tim Duncan, who stayed four years at Wake Forest. I digress.
Back to Johnson, he's an intriguing player - especially his length and his improved perimeter game. However, the negatives that keep popping up about him are serious concerns. His apparent lack of strength and seemingly a lack of rebounding prowess - which really translates into physical toughness. This from Draft Express:
His main issue defensively is defending the post. He does a good job of using his length to contest shots, but his lack of lower body strength really manifests itself in this aspect of his game, as he struggles to deny post position, and is easily backed down, allowing high percentage shots...
Read moreFrom DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/...#ixzz1N0gkpeMu
http://www.draftexpress.com
However if he translates into a small forward, at the next level, perhaps these will not be such glaring weaknesses.
Last edited by Bruno; 05-21-2011 at 01:51 PM. Reason: Don't copy/paste full paragraphs of DraftExpress. Thanks.
Aside of Bonner, who sucks, Spurs don't really have mobile bigs with a good outside shoot. I don't know if Jajuan Johnson is good but he seems to be a good fit with Spurs current roster.
JJ was 220 as of thursday at 6'10. I dont think anybody knows if and how much weight he could carry and still be effective. But, I can tell you without a doubt that at 220 lbs he will get posted up ALOT in the association. With that said, I think the spurs could alot worse with the #29 pick and I would not be against taking this guy at all..
Agreed. I wouldn't at all have an issue if the Spurs selected him @ #29.
, they have worse on their roster now - (hint, hint)
Johnson weighed in at the combine at 220lbs. 6'10 in shoes; 7'2 wingspan. Looks like he gradually put on weight during his years at Purdue. Probably needs to add another 15 pounds but I believe NBA conditioning coaches will help him there.
I really like this kid at #29.
Good read. Thanks for posting this.
Sounds like Johnson could definitely benefit from some extensive practice time and tutoring from the best PF in NBA history.
Even if he's not ready for a starting role, if Johnson can prove that he can consistently knock down that elbow and midrange jumpers, that would be an immediate benefit.
He seems like the best possible fit (out of realistic options) at 29. A legit 6-10 in shoes, long, athletic, mobile, with a solid mid range shot and a good shot blocker. I'm fairly sure I've heard he's a good character guy too. This is exactly the type of PF the Spurs have needed for a long time. He's in the Thomas, Ibaka, Arthur, Johnson (Amir), Warrick, etc. mold.
Unfortunately, even though he's currently ranked in their range, as workouts get into full swing, I've got to think he goes before their pick. Players of his ilk usually aren't around at 29. You look at the recent (relative) success of the types I just mentioned, that's only going to help his stock.
Did bleacher report suddenly become a credible news source? This blog post states nothing that hasn't already said in this thread.
He will work out today for Spurs:
http://thehoopsreport.com/workouts.a...=San%20Antonio
I've read up everything I could find on this kid. He certainly appears to have a fairly versatile and solid skill-set, that could make him an instant contributor to whatever team elects to take him. I like him because he seems to be every bit as good defensively (Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year), as he is offensively.
It's strange that most of th mock drafts haven't fallen love with him. He's kind of all over the place - including as late as early second round. I find that hard to believe.
Still, the Spurs could certainly use a this type of talent infusion into their frontline. I remember he was scheduled to work out for the Spurs on the 31st. I'd certainly like to know how that worked out.
-Purdue big man JaJuan Johnson ranks as the highest usage player in this sample at 18.7 possessions per-game and scored a marginally above average 1.052 PPP overall. Johnson's perimeter orientation limits his rankings a bit, but he gets a boost from the fact that he turned the ball over a sample low 8% of the time.
Keep reading...
From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/article/...#ixzz1Pxj9fbVt
http://www.draftexpress.com
And you were right on with your assumption, Tex. The fact is, because the Spurs were seemingly so hot after Joseph, I'm not sure the Spurs would've taken him even if he were on the board. It would've been an interesting dilemma. Of course, the PF position still remains in flux.
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