When will Stanley Johnson take the proverbial jump?

The proverbial jump happens at different times for different players. Is Stanley Johnson ready to take his? His play in summer league and with the USA Basketball Select Team indicate that it may be coming sooner rather than later.

One will recall the Stanley Johnson hype machine that got rolling after the Pistons drafted him a year ago. Johnson looked like one of the best players in the 2015 Orlando Summer League, where he averaged 16.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. Many respected pundits had him high on their preseason Rookie of the Year watch lists.

He appeared to be on his way to a VERY promising rookie season. But then Marcus Morris happened. Morris came out in his Pistons debut and dropped an 18 and 10. Two games later he finished with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Morris ended up playing the fifth most minutes in all of the NBA last season after entrenching himself into the Pistons plans early on.

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I don’t think many people expected Morris, who up until last season was considered the lesser of the Morris twins, to be as involved as he was for the Pistons last season. But in his fifth NBA season, he took a big step forward. Bully for the Pistons, who acquired him in a salary dump deal for a 2020 second round pick, but bad news for the Johnson hype train.

Johnson, who some thought had the potential to start right away, had to settle in as the sixth man. He finished with averages of 8.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 23.1 minutes per game on .375/.307/.784 shooting. Poor shooting, a shoulder injury, and normal rookie-adjustments-needing-to-be-made aside, Johnson more often than not looked like the player that started the hype in the first place.

His bench role led to him being left out of the Rising Stars game during All-Star weekend and left off of the first and second All-Rookie teams. For the record, one Team USA participant (Marcus Smart) at the Rising Stars game was a member of a future playoff team, and only two of the 10 players who made the All-Rookie squads — Justise Winslow and Myles Turner — were on teams that made the playoffs.

Suffice it to say, most of the players that were awarded these accolades over Johnson were not better basketball players per se. They were on worse teams, and were given more minutes and free rein. Still, things like this drive hard-nosed competitors like Stanley Johnson crazy, and he is out to get the last laugh.

Entering his sophomore summer, it was strange when it was announced that Johnson would play for the Pistons’ summer league team. But there was a good reason why. He played with mindset of not relying on his strengths, such as his “bread & butter” of bullying his way to the rim, and participated solely to work on his weaknesses. He worked on his left hand, debuted some new shooting mechanics, and pushed himself to be a more complete player.

The end result was an impressive stat line – 16 points per game, 7.4 rebounds per game, 2.4 assists per game, 2.2 steals per game – and some horrendous shooting numbers. Johnson finished the five game exhibition with a 35.5 field goal percentage and a 26.7 three point field goal percentage. Clearly, the shooting mechanics have a ways to go.

However, it should be noted that his play was good enough for fifth place on DraftExpress’ list of the Top Ten Performers at the 2016 Orlando Summer League. Pretty impressive for a guy working strictly on his weaknesses.

Johnson, when he is not dropping 46 points in the Drew League, is also a member of the USA Select Team, alongside fellow Piston Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Because they were coached by Gregg Popovich and trained with the Olympic Team, it should have been a great learning experience for the 20-year-old.

And by all accounts from media members in attendance, Johnson looked impressive.

Better yet, it appears his shot was looking smooth.

Some people may think that the jury is still out on Johnson, but I am convinced he’s bound to be a great player. He’s decorated and done great things at every level of ball so far, from four high school state titles to an MVP at the 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. It’s only a matter of time until it happens in the NBA.

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When I watch him play and compete, there’s something special about him that jumps off the screen. He has the potential to be a real difference maker on both ends. Combine his physical tools with the hard-working mentality we know that he possesses, and I believe it’s only a matter of time until we see him take the proverbial jump. It may not be this year, but in the next two years or so, I think it’s bound to happen.