Guess you missed John Hollingers scouting report and the two others I posted. Here is a video breakdown of what Wes Johnson could possibly do for us at a very reasonable price tag off the bench... http://http://youtu.be/eO7_IiQYv-U
Here is a video breakdown of what Wes Johnson could possibly do for us at a very reasonable price tag off the bench... http://youtu.be/eO7_IiQYv-U
Wes Johnson is terrible. I don't even know how he manages to stay on an NBA roster. I give him 1 more sorry year until he plays somewhere overseas. I'd rather call up Rodrick Rhodes or Oscar Torres. He's that bad.
Folks say the same thing about 25 yr old Omri Casspi who's had less success in the league than Wes Johnson. And Corey Brewer didn't figure it out until last year at 27.
What? Do you even have a clue what your talking about? Caspri's best two seasons were his 1st two seasons when he was still with Sac. His last two with Cle were his worst, that's why we got him at vet minimum with 2nd year not garunteed. Maybe I'm not understanding your post. But I do agree that Wes might be figuring it out. He played by far his best basket ball in the 2nd half of last season where he was actually pretty decent, not great. It was at least something for him to build on and might help his confidence going forward. He would still be a risk but there is at least some merit to the idea.
Wes Johnson was a STARTER most of his career including a solid second half LAST YEAR. Casspi had success 3 seasons ago. I'm all for the Casspi signing but he's not exactly an athletic wing defender. Wes Johnson could be developed into a Kwahi Leonard/ Bruce Bowen type player. He needs added strength and a defined role. Defense and corner 3's. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/4247/wesley-johnson
What, precisely, do you think Wes Johnson was drafted by Minnesota to do? He was drafted to be a 3-D guy. And he failed so badly at it that the Wolves had to send a first round pick to dump his rookie contract onto the Suns. Given how pathetic his offense is ( he's never had a TS% above 500), you better be a Tony Allen level defender to even stay in this league. And he's not. He's not even close. Seriously, when your defense is "He might be better than our fourth wing player who's never going to play serious minutes", you know that you're doing something wrong.
I've not seen much of Johnson since college. He seems good on defense and horrendous on offense. He never developed three point range in the NBA. I expected he would be great on defense and be a very good three point shooter. I was wrong at what he would become. I do think he has better defense than most are giving him credit. Without the three point shot, he just isn't very handy. I could see a team take a flier on him for an inactive spot to see if they could teach him to shoot.
Casspi also took the league minimum with a team option 2nd year. If Wes Johnson is signing for that, by all means. My guess is, Wes Johnson is out of the Rockets price range.
I think he is in the vet min to room exception range. He is still one skill away from being worthy of fighting for rotation minutes.
Kawhi Leonard is a do-it-all second coming of Shawn Marion type of player. A player that does MANY things well and contributes in multiple areas. Wes Johnson is nothing at all like that. And Bruce Bowen wasn't exactly a monster athlete. Bowen was all brains, effort and anticipation. Respectfully, I think these are very poor comparisons. Maybe not so much with Bowen (although the crux of your argument seems to be athleticism always translates into defensive potential), but the Leonard comparison is awful. I've followed Casspi's career closely enough to know that this kid plays hard defensively, isn't afraid to be aggressive and generally moves well. On top of that, his understanding and feel for the game seems sufficient. He likes to run the floor, figures to be able to hit the open jumper and brings energy. All things considered, he's a good fit and I'm glad we signed him. And to be honest, if the entire point of signing Wes Johnson is to have another perimeter defender, there are better defensive players currently available. Ronnie Brewer, Dahntay Jones, Keith Bogans, Sam Young and Alan Anderson are all available plus the wild cards like Stephen Jackson and MWP. This is 'win now' territory. We don't have time for a flake like Wes Johnson to try to get it together.
Those are great choices too. Only difference, they aren't unrestricted free agents or in the league minimum range like Wes Johnson.
I like Casspi too. He's NOT our wing stopper. None of those guys you listed are in the league minimum salary range. Most listed cant even shoot. . Wes Johnson actually does have a decent (if over-utilized) jump shot, and when he gets on a hot streak, it can be a game-changer. He’s quite athletic and has the build (long arms, quick feet) to become a very good defender. If the Rockets turned him into a Shane Battier-type defender who could knock down open threes and run the floor in transition, perhaps that would be his calling as an NBA player.
