Reminds me of another guy from Wisconsin - Tyrese Halliburton. Though I think halliburton is a better shooter, Davis is a little physically tougher.
https://theathletic.com/3061568/202...ny-davis-josh-primo-hollingers-week-that-was/ PROSPECT OF THE WEEK: Johnny Davis, 6-5, sophomore, SG, Wisconsin (Note: This section won’t necessarily profile the best prospect of the week. Just the one I’ve been watching.) Relatively unheralded entering the season, Johnny Davis burst onto the draft scene with a strong December that included a 30-point outing in a win over Houston. But he’s in the news this week because of the exclamation point he added Jan. 3 over Purdue. Matched up against fellow sophomore lotto hopeful Jaden Ivey, Davis erupted for 37 points, 14 rebounds, two steals and two blocks to lead the Badgers to a road win against one of the nation’s top teams. Davis is an interesting study for draftniks because he does most of his damage from midrange, relying on superior elevation on his jumper and the ability to stop on a dime to get into it. This, from Sunday night’s win over Maryland, is a very typical Davis possession: Vid At a basic level, he’s been insanely productive this way, averaging 38.6 points per 100 possessions (something partly disguised by Wisconsin’s sluggish pace). His peripheral numbers have also been solid; Davis punches way above his weight on the glass (11.9 percent rebound rate!), and his rates of steals and blocks are commensurate with an NBA talent. While he plays mostly as a scorer, his rates of assists and turnovers also are respectable. The issue right now is his efficiency. Davis is able to draw his share of fouls, but he’s not quite a pure shooter (35.4 percent career from 3 on low volume) and rarely gets all the way to the cup, resulting in a meh 54.4 true shooting percentage. Scouts will be asking themselves whether this is more reflective of ability (tough shot-making!) or inability (he rarely gets all the way to the rim). In his defense, he does show some good first-step burst that makes one more hopeful of him getting rim chances in the more open NBA floor; watch here, for instance, as he wrong-foots Ivey with a jab step, rejects the screen and takes off into the lane to draw a foul. Vid Overall, however, Davis feels like he has more question marks than your typical Player of the Year candidate. Some will see a CJ McCollum-like ability to work the in-between game and trust that the 3-ball will come around; others will worry that the contested Big Ten looks will be more heavily contested at the next level and not drop as easily. The Purdue game was both breathtakingly good and fortuitously timed (a lot of scouts showed up for that one); Sunday’s escape in Maryland was a bit more troubling. Davis is likely in the top 10 on most (if not all) draft boards right now — partly due to his own play and partly due to the perceived softness of this year’s draft after the first four picks. It’s still amazing given that he averaged 7.0 points a game as a freshman; regardless of where exactly Davis lands on draft night, his unexpected emergence has been one of the biggest stories of the 2022 draft class thus far.
Nope. The reason that Davis isn't more efficient is the same reason Ivey isn't more efficient..... both teams give terrible spacing (especially Ivey) and they take up a lot of room. Spread the court better and Davis would have even better efficiency and would finish better around the basket. Everyone harps on athleticism when it comes to scoring inside for guards - and it is a key measure, but it isn't the only one. The ability to stop on a dime and have great body control are also great measures of how well a player will perform inside the paint on penetration. It is the reason the James Harden was one of the 3 best one on one players in NBA history. Davis has very good body control and a good nose for improvising when he presented with resistance in the paint. The same ability to stop on a dime and control his body is why he is also a very good rebounder. The issue with Davis is perimeter shooting, defense and possibly passing. He is not a point guard or a combo guard. He is a high end scorer and rebounder that has some athletic limitations defensively, but is smart enough to be adequate with strong effort. He is one of the top 6-7 players in this draft, and has a pretty high floor and likely long term will be one of the 3 best players in this draft as his bust potential is low.
Davis will have a hard time against an NBA defender, but shooting never goes out of style. Not sure where he fits on THIS team, but he is a nice player.
Woo hoo, I had him in my list of 3 highest-ranked players to be a bust in 5 years in the 2022 "Guillotine" thread. (No offense, Johnny) Of course I also had Jalen Duren as one of the other 2, but we won't talk about that.
I'm not a big predraft guru and the former Wizards regime is gone, as is Beal, but what the living hell were they thinking? A smallish unatheletic midrange specialist in college who more or less was a scorer and not much else. Operates in the same area as Beal. Took him instead of more athletic project palyers like Jalen Duren, the arguably best rookie Jalen Williams, ROY candidate Walker Kessler, Tari Eason, any number of other potentially useful players. Meanwhile Davis was probably the wrost rookie of anybody in the top 20, certainly the top 10. Drafting is hard, a lot of it was luck, but the Wizards going all-in on Johnny Davis was inadvisable to begin with. Just like Beal's no trade clause etc.
Agreed. It was always weird — a 2 guard who is not a great athlete, great passer, or great shooter… when your franchise player is already a 2 guard. They would’ve been better off taking the deal the Knicks took from OKC for 3 future firsts — that actually included one of their own picks and given them control of their own destiny.
this is why drafting is hard. easy to look back and criticize but there's always a sense of gambling when it comes to drafting. gotta give credit to stone so far in drafting success. also is a reminder for young players - don't put everything in basketball, set yourself up for a real job in case basketball doesnt work out
I also think it's almost impossible to determine how some people will handle the pressure of the NBA. Interviews, travel, injuries, more people watching you etc. Some people likely just don't enjoy some of those things and it messes with their head.
To be fair he is already set in life as long as he didn't waste his earnings. He already made 9M USD.
Hindsight is 20-20 if you looked at the start of this thread there wasn't really anyone saying he'd be a bust. There's also the belief of drafting BPA no matter what I mean Rox drafted Amen when they knew they were gonna sign a point guard.
I think he played pretty well in the Summer League this year, but I don't know if that says more about him or the Summer League. lol.
IIRC a lot of the draft-industrial complex gave the Wizards bad draft grades (to the extent that's worth anything) for drafting Davis. Like I said it seemed like a strange thing to do at the time, and it ended up being even worse than most expected:
Yeah but most people giving Wizards a bad grade is not due to Johnny Davis but due to drafting him after they signed Beal to a long term deal. Basically fit/strategy issues not that Davis is a bust in waiting. Like I said it makes as much sense as Rockets drafting Amen when their plan is to sign FVV to be their starter pg. The difference is Amen balled out when given the chance but if he turned out a bust same as Davis then people will say the same thing about the Amen pick, like why did the Rockets draft a long term project who can't shoot when they were planning to pay FVV the max?
A key difference is that it's easy to see what Amen will do well at the NBA level. I can't say the same for Johnny Davis, even before he was drafted. He's not really above average at anything, whereas Amen is elite in some areas with some clear areas for improvement. FVV is a 2-year move, you don't draft a player 4th overall primarily for what role he'll play as a rookie and sophomore, you're looking for a player that could be a core contributor for the next decade
