Detroit Pistons: Stanley Johnson is growing before our eyes

Stanley Johnson got off to a rocky start to his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons, but it appears something has clicked in the past few weeks.

Stanley Johnson was drafted eighth overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2015 NBA Draft, a decision that drew mixed reviews. Many fans and observers thought the Pistons should select Justise Winslow instead, and Winslow fell to the Miami Heat who may have gotten the steal of the draft in selecting him so late in the first round.

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In the early goings of training camp and the preseason, Johnson impressed. He had one of the best preseasons of anybody on the team, and that bumped the expectation level up a notch.

I expected him to probably be the starting small forward by the All-Star break, if not before. I was most certainly wrong, as Marcus Morris has stolen the show at that position and has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the season for the Pistons, while for much of the season Johnson revealed himself to not quite be ready for prime time yet.

Something has changed in the last couple of weeks, however. While Johnson’s season numbers have been underwhelming, averaging just 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game with shooting splits of .391/.331/.768, he’s taken a turn for the better in his last six games.

Over that span, the 19-year old Johnson has averaged 13 points per game, adding three rebounds and 2.2 assists, and has excellent shooting splits over that span, hitting 48.4 percent of his field goal attempts and 42.9 percent of his shots from three-point range.

In addition, Johnson’s net rating (the number of points scored versus points surrendered per 100 possessions) has climbed respectably. For much of the season, thanks in no small part to being part of one of the worst bench units in the NBA, Johnson’s net rating was abysmal.

In November, the Pistons were outscored by 10.7 points per 100 possessions when Johnson was on the floor, but just 1.2 points per 100 possessions in December. In January the script flipped and the Pistons were outscoring their opponents 110.8 to 103 points per 100 possessions with Johnson in the game, good for a net rating of +7.8 points.

His surge has been unmistakable, and it’s been vital to the Pistons’ success.

Perhaps the most vital ingredient to his improvement has been the return of Brandon Jennings. No offense to Steve Blake, God knows he tries, but Jennings’ return was absolutely necessary for the Pistons to keep pace in the Eastern Conference.

According to NBAWowy, the Pistons have a net rating of +4.9 points per 100 possessions when the two players share the floor in 94 minutes and 182 possessions. Compare that to the -3.8 net rating the Pistons had when Johnson and Blake played together over a significant sample of 378 minutes and 717 possessions.

The jury is still out on the Stanley Johnson versus Justise Winslow debate, as it will likely be for some time, but nobody can question that fateful eighth selection these days. The most likely result of that discussion is that both the Detroit Pistons and the Miami Heat are going to be very pleased with their young stars in the making for years to come, and there will be no loser in the equation on either side.

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As Johnson gets more comfortable with the speed of the NBA game and earns greater levels of trust from head coach Stan Van Gundy and the minutes that go with it, it’s safe to expect him to develop quicker and flourish at this next level.

Stats courtesy of NBAWowy, stats.NBA.com, and Basketball-reference.com.

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