A.J. Johnson, 6-7 wing, Illawarra Hawks, No. 29
I got to see Johnson work out in Santa Barbara, Calif., recently, and it was every bit as impressive as one could have hoped.
We’ll talk about some of the limitations I saw in a second, but Johnson’s ability to get to spots as a scorer in a fluid, on-balance manner is real. His jumper is mechanically sound both off the catch and bounce. He worked on getting into the shot from different footwork from both sides of the court, and while the jumper looked a bit more well-developed in terms of rhythm from the left side — this isn’t uncommon for young, right-handed players, as it’s a bit easier to get into shots off the hop, particularly on stepbacks, from the left side — everything looks clean and pure enough to where Johnson should be a very high-level shooter down the road.
Johnson came into his time at Illawarra in the ballpark of 6-5 to 6-6. Seeing him stand next to Ron Holland, who is around 6-7 1/2 in shoes, was an eye-opener, as he looked about as tall as Holland. I asked Johnson after his workout if he’d grown during his time in Australia, and he said yes, and multiple sources both in the United States and around the NBL confirmed Johnson’s account that he has grown a bit since the last time many American audiences saw him in high school. Johnson’s measurements will likely be among the more coveted by NBA personnel; if he’s grown into that 6-7 range as it seems he has, it opens up many more avenues for his success. Instead of being more of a guard, it can realistically slide Johnson down to the wing at some point in his career, especially given his wingspan that appears to be something in the ballpark of 6-11.
Part of the downside of workouts like this is that you don’t see players deal with contact. Right now, that’s Johnson’s biggest weakness. Still quite skinny with a frame that is likely under 180 pounds even with the work he put in this season, Johnson couldn’t deal well with the physical NBL on a night-to-night basis. He couldn’t consistently get to his spots because, once his momentum got stopped, he didn’t quite have the contact balance to be able to adjust. But Johnson’s shoulders are quite wide and make you believe his frame has room for a lot more growth. He just looks like a person who is still quite young and growing into his body.
The name that seemed most applicable when watching Johnson was the Trail Blazers’
Anfernee Simons, who entered the draft after a post-graduate year at IMG as opposed to heading to college despite the fact that his frame was not ready for the NBA. Simons took over a year to get on the court consistently as he filled out his 180-pound frame. But he played in his second season, and by the start of his fourth season, he was a ready-made NBA scoring guard. Simons is a bit more explosive than Johnson, but Johnson is bigger and might have a bit more potential on the defensive end.
Johnson is going to take time. But seeing him in-person multiple times, as well as in that pre-draft workout, it’s clear the frame was his biggest impediment to success this season. Once his frame catches up to his gifts, Johnson has all the tools he needs to be this draft’s interesting high-upside swing in the late first or early second round.
