It just never ceases to amaze me at the talent level in the NBA. Here we have a fellow "JaJuan was a Consensus-All American as well as the Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year with tremendous talent that can't crack into a rotation....and there are many, many other examples just like him. It really takes a special player to become even a rotation player in the NBA, let alone a starter or team star. Nothing new here, but just awesome the talent level in the NBA.
I don't think that Jordan Hill is a good comparison with JJ. According to the pre-draft measurements from DraftExpress, J.Hill was over ten pounds heavier coming into the league. Additionally, Jordan is clearly a 4. I've never looked at his game and thought this guy could play small forward. His agility doesn't allow for it. Also, you make a decent point about thinking long-term regarding his opportunities with other teams. Having said that, it's not entirely up to him. He has to do what the Rockets want him to do. Jason Friedman told me on Twitter earlier that the Rockets like "positional versatility." I think JJ can play multiple positions and will make the team (unless he's traded). If the Rockets want him to work on playing the three, then that's what he'll do. He played the three some during Summer League, so there's a precedent. A better example of someone with JJ's type of size and athleticism is Kevin Durant. They're exactly the same height, but KD weighs a little more. 221lbs is average for the SF position, but it's definitely below average for the PF position. Thus, he's had consistent issues with post play. Although he was one of the best athletes in last years draft (38' max vert), he was among the rookies that played the least. I think having a 6'10 athletic SF, that's the general size of Parsons/KD, would be very attractive for teams. Whereas, a 221lb PF (only pf) that hasn't shown much ability to gain size/weight would have a limited appeal. In essence, I'm suggesting that while you make a good point about supply/demand, the best option for his future may still be playing the three. Defensively, I'm pretty certain that he can defend the position right now - which is the primary holdup. You said, "They have no room for projects at the wing position." Why not? Marcus is a project, and JJ has better athleticism/agility than Marcus. You also said, "...he's not going to find a team that will have the space on their roster to develop him long term." What about Anthony Randolph? Teams have room for versatile players. Finally, you mentioned, "...he MUST HAVE that skill that teams need." He does: perimeter defense, weak-side defense, and shot. It's worked well for Battier. It's going to take him some time to become more comfortable with the position. He's not a great ball-handler, and though he has a good shot, he doesn't have reliable three-point range currently. Let him play behind Carlos. Send him to RVG for a while. He's definitely a nice asset to have considering his height, skill-set, athleticism, and bball iq. Having said all this, I don't have a clue if the Rockets will go this direction with him.
Sounds like things Marcus Morris is projected to do, less athletic but with more offensive skill. Already have Terrence Jones coming in as that kind of player. Not gonna be any rotation minutes for Johnson. (Thats where the tankers can complain about Carlos Delfino on the roster taking away "development" minutes) The wirey skinny PFs can work if they're the active kind. Johnson doesnt seem to have that kinda motor in him. Would be interesting to see him work as a 3 still
I'm not a tanker, but I'm not very excited about Delfino. It doesn't make sense to me. Why get a 30 year old avg vet when we have so much young talent? I'd rather Marcus, Jones, Johnson, or White get time at 3. Or else trade Kevin for a pick or two, and use Carlos to backup Lamb.
The minimum team salary is set at 49 million. Houston only have 44 million. Delfino has one-year guaranteed with team option next year. His expiring contract is an asset for a team who is over the tax level.
Don't forget, we had the Chandler Parsons Project this time last year. You never know who will turn out
First, the Rockets' team salary (not even counting Delfno) is closer to $53 million. Second, the $5 million or so that the Rockets are paying Luis Scola this season, while it does not count against the cap, DOES count towards meeting the team minimum salary cap. So, the Rockets were doing just fine as against the minimum team salary before their most recent additions.
"I'm trying hard to like this guy, but sorry, I just can't. He has no true position - too small to be a PF and too slow / lacks outside shot to be a SF." http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=58764.0 "power forward with a small forward body".."not quick or skilled enough to play the 3" http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=54381.15 Lol, they're having the same conversations we have here about Morris. :/
10 pounds.... thats the only difference in him and Jordan Hill physically. Not sure how this makes him such a drastically different physical specimen. Look, Im not a huge JuJuan Johnson expert. Im not going to claim that I have been scouting him since he was in middle school or anything like that. What I have seen of him in Summer League this year and last lets me know that this guy is nowhere near skilled enough to be a wing in the NBA at this point in his career, and more importantly, no team will want to invest that much into his development given the nature of his contract situation. He needs to hit the ground running with something now. Sounds great to say that he can be a defensive stopper role player type. However, thats a need that this team does not have, and most likely wont look to explore with him, especially when you have Parsons and Delfino playing in front of him. Two very good perimeter defenders in the NBA who also are quality offensive players. Defense is still only half of the game. He would need to be a non-liability on the offensive end as well. I guarantee you if Johnson was to ever be inserted in the game at the 3 spot, the defense will lag off of him dramatically and make him beat them from the 3 point line. He will then get yanked out of the game within seconds of checking in the game. He's not going to beat out someone like Carlos Delfino or even Marcus Morris for minutes there. Its just not gonna happen. -Even look at someone like Shane Battier or Bruce Bowen as an example of a lock down defender specialist at the wing spot. They still had to make themselves into a non-liability on offense by being a threat from 3 point land. You might be able to provide some examples of players with no offensive game whatsoever like Tony Allen, but I will tell you now that this is the exception and not the norm. -Oh, and I know people are comparing Johnson to Morris on here because they think that he's a tweener comparison.... not buying that. Morris is probably one of the best scorers on the Rockets roster right now in all reality even despite his failure to impress so far in the league. If you leave him open to hit the corner 3, he's going to drill that shot all day long. He's a very skilled offensive player. Thats not why he's failed so far in the league. I think its great that you see potential in Johnson. However, you have to understand the business side of the NBA. Its not a development league despite the fact that they actually have a development league within it. It spits out athletic 6'8" to 6'10" kids that have aspirations for being the next great superstar like Lebron James or now Kevin Durant year after year. You have to be drafted high enough for teams to invest long term into your development. And that "long term development"...... yeah... its roughly two years. Thats it. After that they have to make the decision on whether or not to keep on developing you, or utilizing their assets and rosters space on another draft pick. What Im saying is that given his contract situation, timing, and the disposition he has with the team he is currently on, my advice to him would be to start working on the skills that NBA teams actually need right now, and thats interior defense, rebounding, and shot blocking if he wants a nice long career in the NBA. He's in too much of a disposition right now to think that he has a shot of beating anyone out for minutes at the wing spot on any NBA team.
Agility Sprint Times 11.21 3.14 JaJuan Johnson 11.05 3.29 Chandler Parsons SF Rockets 11.33 3.09 Chris Singleton SF Wizards 11.45 3.15 Kawhi Leonard SF Spurs 11.30 3.31 Jimmy Butler SF Bulls JJ's agility & sprint times were 2nd best in both occasions among SF peers for the 2011 draft class. I spent some time looking at Boston's forum, and the general consensus is that JJ is the prototypical tweener: Too small for the 4, not sufficiently skilled for the 3. There's a lot to like about his size, speed, and athleticism, but he'll need considerable work to play the three. Here's the last post regarding JaJuan from the Celtic's forum: "I don't have the quote but Danny (Ainge) said he would have to play 3 not just to benefit the team but mostly to benefit JJJ." I'll leave it at that.
Funny if a guy like this is very good at NBA basketball, he's a "matchup problem". Otherwise, he's just a tweener.
He will either be riding the bench or cut, we have too many young players that can play his position already scrambling for playing time.
I watched Johnson in college, and while he's a finesse 4, he just doesn't have the skills to play the 3. But for where he was drafted, I always thought he'd be a steal and a quality NBA player. Many analysts felt that way as well. He's thin, long, a good leaper, shot-blocker and has a nice mid-range game. Of course with our 45 PFs, I'm not sure where he fits in, but then again, I have a feeling Morey doesn't see things by PF and C - he just sees them as bigs. And if you look at it that way, Johnson does bring something a little different to the table, with his length and defensive agility. Even if Johnson proves himself to be useful, we'd still need to do some house-cleaning. I have a hunch Johnson has a future, but it may not be here - but that doesn't mean we should just throw him away.
Having watched Johnson in college, do you think he's capable of defending the 3 effectively? If he can defend the three, like Chandler or Durant, perhaps he can spend a season with the Vipers and work on ball-handling, shot etc. In theory, his length and athleticism suggests he could be a lock-down defender. There has always been room in the league for defensive specialists like Bruce Bowen and Shane Battier. If he can guard the position like these guys, and develop a reliable 3pt shot, I think he has a chance. He doesn't have to be AI with a basketball. His stats from Purdue suggests that he takes pride in D. Maybe that can translate to SF.
1. It would seem to be very difficult to move from power to small forward. You're talking about going from guarding Zach Randolph to Joe Johnson. I guess it's done sometimes, but it seems like it'd be only a little bit harder to just change sports completely. All your responsibilities on the court are changing. 2. Jajuan's size should not preclude him from playing power forward - Jajuan: 220 lbs - Joe Smith: 221 - Rasheed Wallace: 225 - Antonio McDyess: 220 Weights are when they entered draft/not official (http://www.ibiblio.org/craig/draft/1995_draft/scout/pf.html). 3. He should have as much of an opportunity as any of our other PF's. Everyone might love Terrance Jones or Patrick Patterson or Royce White or Donuts, but newsflash - none of them have established themselves as a starter in the NBA. Morey has said over and over that he intends to collect high potential guys and hope that one of them turns into an All Star. I like that idea. I don't mind having this many PF's and seeing if one of them can blossom the way that Landry did. All these guys, including Jajuan, were picked higher than Landry actually. Moral of Story Basically, I think we just need to have patience.....and don't count Jajuan out just yet....
