James Johnson will benefit OKC Thunder either as mentor or trade chip

James Johnson is headed to the OKC Thunder to complete the Wolves deal and will offer benefits either as a mentor or as a trade chip.

The biggest move OKC Thunder, VP and GM Sam Presti made from a draft prospect perspective was the swing to bring in big risk – big reward youngster Aleksej Pokusevski. The Thunder front-office executive was busy making deals even before Adam Silver announced Anthony Edwards as the 2020 top draft pick selected by the Wolves.

By the time Minnesota was back on the clock, it was time for Sam Presti to get actively involved. Rarely, does any detail or secret leak out of OKC. So when pundits were sharing Pokusevski had a draft night promise from the Thunder it was met with a bit of skepticism. Regardless, it also made a ton of sense given the new direction of the team so TI at least took it seriously.

The deal to send Ricky Rubio back to Minnesota cleared the path for Pokusevski to come to OKC. And, it made a ton of sense for Rubio who was drafted by the Wolves and is beloved both by the fanbase and their cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns.

His presence for the Wolves offers a stable playmaker and will open the floor specifically for D’Angelo Russell and rookie Anthony Edwards.

Yet, there was clearly still a piece of the deal missing as the Thunder sent their 25th and 28th picks to Minnesota. Therefore it was clear someone else had to be coming back to finalize the package and match up the salaries.

James Johnson set to join OKC Thunder

The typical “player to be named later” caveat was cited initially and many believed that person would be James Johnson. At the time of the deal, however, Johnson had yet to opt-in to his contract which precluded the Wolves from stating he was “that person”.

Now that Johnson made that decision formal the deal can be completed.

As for whether Johnson will ever suit up for the Thunder — your guess is as good as mine. So far, every player other than Al Horford (with more than two years of service in the NBA) obtained in the Thunder trades has been repackaged and traded.

Horford won’t be a player Presti can easily do that with given his salary, age, and poor 2019-20 campaign that punctuated his regression and limitations.

Johnson on the other hand is a player who should draw interest whether now or prior to the trade deadline. As a journeyman of the NBA Johnson is a Swiss Army knife player. On any given night he can throw up a performance that rivals All-Stars. More typical of his performance though is filling up the stat sheet with whatever the team needs may be on that given night.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/20/2020.

Case in point, check out the basketball reference chart which highlights how valuable his presence was for the Wolves this season. Johnson performed above his career averages in virtually every category.

Although there were some issues in his first stint with the Raptors (Dwane Casey and Johnson never clicked) and also some minor issues in Miami he’s a beloved teammate and a great mentor to the young guys.

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It was common to see Johnson courtside at G-League games supporting the youngsters. A great example of his mentorship is tied to the young Bruno Caboclo. Fran Fraschilla made the Brazilian youngster infamous for his “two years away from being two years away” comments when the Raptors drafted in 2014.

James made it his personal challenge to help Bruno Caboclo breakthrough. Twice a day Johnson would meet Caboclo; the first to do some one-on-one pre-game activity and then again after games for another 45-minute session in the practice gym.

Think about that commitment. It would be the equivalent of Steven Adams or Dennis Schroder pulling in Darius Bazley and Luguentz Dort twice a day for 30 and 45-minute sessions of one on one ball.  As an aside — Caboclo just turned 25 which sort of puts Franschilla’s comment into perspective.

Suffice to say, James Johnson would be a better leader than might be widely known. That said, this all might be a moot point since he could be on the move if Sam Presti can interest a team into giving him draft picks for Johnson.

Either way, Johnson will be beneficial for the OKC Thunder whether in returning assets/picks or in providing mentorship to the young roster. Although – the one piece of advice the OKC Thunder coaching staff might want to pass along to the youngsters is NOT to replicate JJ’s ability to kick balls off the rim. This was common knowledge in Toronto and gained almost cult-like status as more and more people learned about this ability.