James Johnson Discussion

[Joey]

Does anyone remember what Chicago got out of trading that pick back to Miami?

Chicago traded Norris Cole to Minnesota. Minni traded him back to Miami.

Can't seem to find what the actual trade was though.
Probably "future considerations" or something along those lines.


Anyway, James Johnson for Norris Cole is a Deal I would make 10 times out of 10.
I don't see Cole being anything more than a Jerryd Bayless. And while I'm still quite high on Bayless, James Johnson will obviously have the longer Career.

[Papa Burgundy]

Yup - JJ has been looking like a nice future piece. This season was all about development, and seeing what players would stick.

The big hope from me was that JJ at SF or Bayless at PG would emerge as a future piece ... that happened with JJ, and we got our answer on Bayless - NOT a PG.

[ReubenJRD]

A quarter of the board would have much rather not done that deal last season. Their defense was Monta Ellis and Gilbert Arenas and Paul Milsap and yada, yada, yada. In other words they would have rather had a remote chance of tripping head first into a goldmine. Look back early on in this thread and you'll find there now humorous conversations...

I don't know how people saw my comment, but I was shocked at the fact how damn lucky we were in getting a very good potential small forward for a combo guard.

[ReubenJRD]

Yup - JJ has been looking like a nice future piece. This season was all about development, and seeing what players would stick.

The big hope from me was that JJ at SF or Bayless at PG would emerge as a future piece ... that happened with JJ, and we got our answer on Bayless - NOT a PG.

I like Bayless, I'm a fan of his game. He's just so much better playing off the ball and being the extra ball-handler. Against Memphis tonight he had that instinct knowing Jose would throw a lob and he almost knocked that one home.

[Puffer]

...Against Memphis tonight he had that instinct knowing Jose would throw a lob and he almost knocked that one home.

I think you have that reversed. More like Jose knew Bayless would cut to the basket and tossed it there so it would be ready for him. Of course, you could say that all the players on the floor have the "instinct" of knowing Jose will get them the ball if they find a way to be open. That is what makes Jose so valuable.

[saints91]

We can't really compare JJ to Noris Cole. I've heard the same people comment that Hibbert shouldn't be discussed in the O'Neal trade, because we may not have taken him. Who knows who we might have picked in that spot, but in the future they could have turned out better than JJ.

These are the players that might have been taken:

Cory Joseph, Jimmy Butler, Bojan Bogdanović, Justin Harper, Kyle Singler, Shelvin Mack, Tyler Honeycutt, Jordan Williams, Trey Thompkins, Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Tyler, Jon Leuer, Darius Morris, Dāvis Bertāns, Malcolm Lee, Charles Jenkins, Josh Harrellson, Andrew Goudelock, Travis Leslie, Keith Benson, Josh Selby, Lavoy Allen, Jon Diebler, Vernon Macklin, DeAndre Liggins, Milan Mačvae, E'Twaun Moore, Chukwudiebere Maduabum, Tanguy Ngomb, Ater Majok, Ádám Hang, Isaiah Thomas

Most of them will not turn out to be anything of value, but we won't know for a couple years.

I still think the trade was a good move. I really think J.J. is playing awesome, and I think he will continue to improve. He is perfect off the bench. Right now we have 2 awesome back up SF's in Linas and JJ. We need to improve our starting line-up. Hopefully Batum or a SF from the draft is the answer.

[mcHAPPY]

A very interesting read on James Johnson... long too but worth the click:

http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/2012...t-of-the-game/

Johnson won’t soon forget bus rides in the D-League or bench splinters in Chicago. “I worked hard to get here and I’m working harder to stay,” he said.

“I live the game. I’m not worried about the money or how much a payday’s worth or nothing like that. I’m just trying to win, get better and help this organization go as far as we can.”

When you look where Johnson was, it’s no surprise he’s loving life in Toronto. “These guys got me from Chicago, give me a chance, and my career is finally coming into blossom. I feel like I’m starting to become what I’m capable of being and I just want to give back. I feel like I owe.”

It cost the Raptors only a No. 30 pick to acquire Johnson, so how much he owes is up for debate. When his rookie deal expires, they’ll owe him a raise.

*it was a 28 pick the Raps got him for - 28 or 30.... whatever.

[Nilanka]

Before Sterner entered the picture, Johnson never had this kind of instruction. “I made it to where I was off of just raw talent and athleticism,” said Johnson. “Now that I’m learning the game everything’s kind of moving slower for me.

“I used to never watch basketball, really I was just a not watching TV guy at all. I’d rather go play basketball than watch it. But now that it’s my job it’s just easier to study.

“Every time I watch film it’s like a student going into the classroom and getting some tutor help.”

Based on this fact, it seems like there's a lot of room for improvement in terms of JJ's decision-making and IQ. We've already noticed quite a bit of improvement since the start of the season. Hope that learning curve hasn't peaked yet.

[Th0m79]

Where's James Johnson?

Heard that he was benched by Casey - anyone hear what happened? He was rolling pretty well and showing it at both ends of the floor. I hope that this doesn't throw a wrench in the works as he's going to be a quality piece going forward.

[Darien]

Something must have happened because he was playing too well to be passed over in favour of D leaguers taking minutes.

[draftedraptor]

This article suggests 'Johnson committed some form of team infraction' however there is no direct quote from Casey or the management -

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/06...ss-for-raptors

[ReubenJRD]

Whatever, as long as this doesn't affect the long term. Plus it helps the tank nation.

[bounty]

Tank nation gets a good boost but i hope that there isn't anything thats going to affect him being here long term.

[mcHAPPY]

Not much light shed on the situation:

For the second game in a row, Raptors forward James Johnson took his seat on the bench and never got out of his sweats.

His absence in the first game, Wednesday in Philadelphia, while noticeable, was not problematic as Alan Anderson filled in nicely for the Wake Forest product who has played the bulk of the minutes as the team’s starting small forward.

The fact that the Raptors won the game made it that much easier to accept.

At the time both head coach Dwane Casey and Johnson would only say it was an internal matter that they were going to keep between them.

Johnson said he would accept whatever decision Casey made.

Following Friday morning’s shootaround, Casey was asked if Johnson would play.

“I’m sure he will,” Casey said. “It’s an internal situation and I don’t have a doghouse so there’s no doghouse (to be in),” Casey said.

The matter was raised again Friday in light of the 84-80 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the fact that the Raptors got very limited offensive production from the small forward position.

Casey objected to the suggestion that Johnson might have been able to make a difference and remained mostly tight-lipped about his inactivity.

“We have an internal issue,” he said. “James is not in the dog house. I just thought (Linas Kleiza) and (Alan Anderson) did a good job at the three position. It (the loss) wasn’t because James didn’t play. He’ll be available to play on Sunday and he was available to play tonight but I chose not to play him.”

Casey then got as close to admitting Johnson had committed some form of team infraction.

“We are going to build the program the right way,” he said. “We are going to do things the right way and we’ll go from there.”

Johnson was no more forthcoming.

“It’s the coach’s decision and I’m riding with it,” he said. “Our guys have been playing well without me so I’m just cheering for my team and doing whatever any of them would do if they were a DNP.”

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/06...ss-for-raptors

Nice to see JJ saying the right things and it is nice to see Casey being firm yet respectful - and hopefully fair.

[NoPropsneeded]

I think jj would have made a difference on defense and even offense. Who knows what he did just hope he plays Sunday