OKC Thunder NBA draft profile: Jalen Johnson – versatile forward with upside

Jalen Johnson strengths and weaknesses

Strengths:

Defense and playmaking are some of the top assets of Jalen Johnson which are augmented by his great court vision. Johnson capitalizes on his height (6’9) and strong frame (220 pounds) combining it with athletic prowess giving him the ability to defend one through five. But there is a caveat (*see weaknesses).

He’s a solid rebounder and tackles the defensive end of the hardwood with verve often drawing charges or blocking shots. He averaged 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks this past season.

Offensively he hasn’t come close to his ceiling but that same athleticism allows him to score especially in transition or driving the paint.

Although he has shown the ability to stretch the floor (44.4 percent) he doesn’t attempt many shots from behind the arc (1.4 per game) perhaps not fully trusting that shot just yet.

Despite being a combo forward he possesses point guard skills especially his playmaking. While he displays great court vision it’s the types of passes he’s honed that stand out. Unlike most big men he can facilitate crosscourt passes to open corner shooters or hit a cutter on the move. He can orchestrate fast breaks because of his rebounding and playmaking ability.

Should he land on a team that prioritizes ball movement and has adept shooters his assist totals could be on par with the team’s point guard.

Weaknesses:

Commitment and desire are the biggest question marks for Johnson — both on the court and in general. The flaws show when he isn’t focused or providing a consistent effort. Case in point, while he’s an above-average passer his 2.5 turnovers per game weren’t concerning. More concerning is many of those gaffes occurred when he lost focus and forced passes.

As noted, Johnson registered great 3-point efficiency but there is a lack of confidence in his shot and arguably with good reason. His shot has fundamental mechanical issues that need to be tweaked. The same is true of his free-throw shooting where he averaged a meager 63.2 percent. It’s not a Ben Simmons situation however as he will take the shots just not very often so with the right development team he should easily improve.

Given his ability to defend and do so with physicality and aggressiveness it’s odd he doesn’t apply that same panache on the offensive end. Rather he relies on his pet moves which are jabs or floaters in the paint that frequently get blocked because he doesn’t go up strong and positions his body to move away from contact.