To say that Wesley Johnson's career up to this point has been a disappointment is an understatement. Johnson was the fourth overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, taken before DeMarcus Cousins, Greg Monroe, Gordon Hayward and Paul George, and expectations were high in Minnesota. Johnson started off badly in his rookie season, being worth a 10.2 PER and only contributing to 1.3 Win Shares while shooting 39% from the floor. He somehow was even worse in his sophomore season, as he dropped his PER to a horrid 8.0 and was barely worth 0.6 Win Shares, while somehow being worth a -0.4 OWS. Minnesota cut their losses after his second season and he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he was inexplicably even worse. Johnson contributed to 0 Wins for Phoenix in his 50 games played. It's safe to say the Lakers didn't have the highest expectations when they picked up the 25 year-old Small Forward with the veteran's minimum this off season.
And yet, here we are, talking about how good Johnson has been under Mike D'Antoni and his run and gun system. D'Antoni moved Johnson from Small Forward to Power Forward, while still running him at Small Forward in bigger line ups; it's a role in which Johnson has thrived, as he has improved his three point shooting considerably (44.8% compared to his career 34.7%) and has stretched the floor well for the Lakers. Johnson is taking smarter shots, playing to his strengths and playing completely within the offense. It's so rare to see a player come in and pick up a whole new offense in the span of 3-5 months, but that's exactly what Johnson has done.
Although Johnson is scoring at a similar rate to his career average (8.2 to his career 7.8), he has done so with a career high 43.7% from the floor, including that sky high three point percentage, and has increased his rebounds (3.5), assists (1.3), steals (1.2) and blocks (1.5), all while playing some inspiring man-to-man defense. It's no wonder Johnson is setting career highs in PER (13.0), True Shooting Percentage (54.9%), WS/48 (.087), and currently has his second-highest Win Share total with 0.9 in just 21 games. The only knock on Johnson right now is his massive spike in personal fouls per game; he's averaging 3.0 per game, compared to last year's 1.0. It's something we should have expected, given his change of position into the low-post. It's also something we can live with when you consider the pretty big increase in blocks.
Johnson's sheer athleticism has been something the Lakers have been missing since 2010, and it has been unbelievably fun watching him do all sorts of impossibly athletic things. He has been one of the main reason's the Lakers have the best 2nd unit in the league; his long wingspan help him generate steals and his incredible jumping all but ensure he swats his fair share of shots, which usually lead to Lakers fast breaks. If Johnson isn't creating the turnover, he's using his speed and jumping ability to finish off fast breaks. And boy has he been blocking shots:
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| That's 6'11'' Pero Antic, getting swatted by the 6'7'' Johnson |
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| His head almost hits the backboard. Unreal. |
Johnson has really helped spark the Lakers to an unexpected 10-9 start without Kobe Bryant and has continued the Lakers recent trend of "fixing" former first round draft choices and turning them into productive role players. I only hope he sticks around a bit longer than Shannon Brown or Earl Clark and continues to grow as a player. Right now, Johnson is executing the Bruce Bowen model of play perfectly, but I do hope his skills increase in his time here, though it is nice to finally have a defensive specialist who can hit the three ball at a high percentage (no offense, Metta World Peace). For now, we can only question whether or not he can continue shooting over 40% from deep, because the effort, athleticism and defense have been there, and it's been spectacular. And so too, have the dunks.
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| This is how you run a fast break. |
