Detroit Pistons’ Johnson starting to live up to his draft status
The Detroit Pistons have gotten a mix back from Stanley Johnson since drafting him eighth overall in the 2015 NBA draft. In fairness, his playing time was far from consistent. Still, there were more ups than downs, and after his inconsistent playing time and performance in year three, many started to wonder if Johnson would ever live up to the high draft status. After seven games in 2017-18, those questions are starting to fade.
Detroit Pistons 2015 first round pick Stanley Johnson couldn’t have had a worst performance offensively to start his 2017-18 campaign. Against the Charlotte Hornets, Johnson finished with just two points, and scored on zero of 13 attempts from the field.
However, on the defensive end, Johnson was a menace, having his hand in multiple plays that lead to Pistons fast break opportunities, including four steals.
Of course, that was completely overshadowed by most because of his historically bad offensive game.
Fast forward six games, and Johnson looks exactly like the player the Pistons envisioned when they draft him in 2015.
His defense has been as good as just about anyone’s on a night-to-night basis. Offensively, he’s been really good too going 21-41 (52% ) since that poor shooting game on opening night, and 9-21 from three (42.8%).
His scoring average (just below 10 points a game) might not impress yet, but it looks like he’s starting to get comfortable in the offense, averaging 13 points per game in his last three contests, taking 32 total shots in that time, compared to 11 shots total in his previous three games.
Johnson is extremely talented, and has a long way to go before we can say he’s playing to what he’s capable of doing. Still, he looks like he has the potential to get there, based on what we’ve seen so far, something we weren’t sure of a season ago.
Next: How do you feel about the Detroit Pistons now?
If Johnson continues his play these last few games, there’s no question he will live up to his high draft status.