Charlotte Hornets Draft Series: Looking At Stanley Johnson
Mar 21, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Stanley Johnson (5) dribbles the basketball against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
When you watch video highlights of Stanley Johnson one thing becomes clear and that is the fact that this kid has a NBA ready body. Johnson is a physical presence on the court and he uses that to his advantage by cutting to the basket hard and using his strength to finish when he needs to.
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Johnson has a weakness that I think will scare away the Charlotte Hornets though and that is his streaky shooting. Johnson was 37 percent from down town for the 2014-2015 NCAA season but he only shot 29 percent from there in PAC-12 conference play.
If the Hornets pick Johnson at number 9 then they are saying one of two things, either he is going to get better shooting (MKG all over again), or they prefer two small forwards on the roster who can not shoot from down town. I think that Johnson is a better shooter by far than MKG is right now from down town but he will still be a below average shooter from there in his career.
Players do get better and he may become a better shooter down the line but the Hornets need shooting now not later. The Hornets have a weakness shooting from deep so this pick would be a head scratcher in the same respect that the Noah Vonleh pick was last year (sorry to all the Vonleh fans out there).
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I think Johnson is a great player on another team. However, with his lack of shooting consistently, adding him to this Hornets team could hurt his growth as a player by forcing him into more of a shooting role early in his career. Johnson does have defensive potential and I am sure Steve Clifford would love that but the Hornets were ranked 9th in defense this past season and still missed the playoffs due to a lack of scoring.
If Johnson impresses with his shooting during private workouts and seems to be getting better there I would take him if I were the Hornets. However, if Johnson comes into the private workouts and shoots poorly then he is not the right fit right now in my opinion. I have attached Johnson’s Draft Express NBA Draft Scouting youtube video below. GO HORNETS!