Stanley Johnson has the body but needs improved skills
Coming off a promising rookie season, Detroit Pistons forward Stanley Johnson had a nightmare sophomore season. So, what skills does Johnson need to work on this offseason?
If you look at Stanley Johnson’s build, he looks like a NBA-caliber player. Standing at 6’7″ and 240 lbs, he has the size and physicality to plow through traffic in the lane like LeBron James. Johnson needs to improve this offseason offensively. Although his season for the Detroit Pistons wasn’t great in an analytical way, in January and February Johnson showed flashes of his rookie season when he shot 44 percent overall and close to 38 percent from the beyond the arc while defending on a high level.
Out of all of Johnson’s career highlights, one part of his NBA tenure sticks out. Watching Johnson and LeBron James go at in the first round of the playoffs a year ago put my head on a swivel. His impact in that playoff series was a huge part of why the Pistons were competitive in that series with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
One of the attributes Johnson needs to work on this summer is his quickness. He may be an elite defender, but on the offensive end, it honestly looked like he was out of shape. One of the reasons why Stan Van Gundy benched him was because Stanley looked out of shape at the beginning of this past season. If he improves his quickness and athletic abilities he can pose a significant threat to the opponent both offensively and defensively.
Stan Van Gundy believes that his offensive will come if you keeps working at it and keep defending at a high level.
Per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:
"“He needs to base his game and build his game around being an elite defender in this league. I do think he takes pride in it. He’s got to get better as a team defender, but he needs to be a guy that can impact the game on the defensive end of the floor first and foremost. He’s got to lock in to that. Second thing is his offensive skills have got to improve. I look at Stanley as a guy who should be a very versatile defender. I think he’s capable of guarding three positions in this league. Love him in that regard.”"
If he wants to become a threat on offense he needs to find his role. He’s found his role defensively but needs to work hard at what fits his style of play. He has to improve on what he does best which also means he has to do whatever it takes to make an impact offensively. His most essential areas of improvement on offense are shooting the basketball and getting to the free throw line.
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It’s hard to say what Johnson’s future in the NBA looks like as the Detroit Pistons have a team option on his contract next summer. At Arizona, he was as competitive and tough as you can get. In his rookie season he proved that he could pose somewhat of a threat on both sides of the ball. He isn’t going to be as big of a threat as LeBron James, but he definitely can work his way into the starting lineup and can be an excellent two-way forward for the Pistons.