On February 8, 2022, the Blazers and the Clippers reached a trade agreement to fire Norman Powell and Robert Covington in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Keon Johnson, Justise Winslow and the second pick. When everyone focuses on Joe Cronin’s malfunction, they ignore KJ’s unfathomable potential. It wasn’t until the summer league that KJ played his worth, which also made me fall in love with this 21-year-old first-round pick.
Keon Johnson is the 11th player in our Blazers rotation. Major contributors on the court now include the three-pointers, defense, and 3D players we know so well. Let’s start with three-pointers: when KJ was playing in the NCAA, he wasn’t good at three-point shooting, while when he was playing at Tennessee, his three-point percentage was only 27%. After the draft, when the Clippers first started, shooting percentage was similar. When I was first traded to the Blazers, I didn’t expect him to contribute from the perimeter. Especially in the college three-point shooting rate is poor, to the farthest NBA three-point line, it is understandable to adjust to the three-point distance.
But in the Blazers’ tank period, even though there were no outfield players on the field, KJ still made 34.8 percent of his shots from outside in limited space. While not excellent compared to the league average, for a player who doesn’t have three-point shooting in college, this kind of improvement is already noticeable. After a year in the summer league, KJ’s three-point shooting percentage reached 36.4% (1.1/2.8) this season. Among them, Catch-and-Shoot three-pointers hit 38.7% and Wide-Open three-pointers have a hit rate of 47.4%.
Another skill KJ relies on for a living is defense. His defense is already good, especially the perimeter defense is already elite. Under the defense of KJ, the opponent’s outside shooting percentage was 28.6%. Although the number of champions is small, it can be seen from the game that KJ’s defense is very genuine. He keeps his center of gravity very low on defense: when he defends against the ball, he not only can press the dribble, but when he encounters a pick-and-roll, he can easily get around it;
In off-ball defence, KJ’s innate sense of space on the pitch also allows him to perceive the positions of the other nine players on the pitch. His interception instinct is very good, he can predict the opponent’s pass path and create traps to ambush the ball. KJ’s awareness of changing defenses can also be derived from the sense of space, which can predict the team’s defensive loopholes, fill in teammates in advance, and even change defenses in advance. When KJ is on the court, it is rare to see an opponent’s open shot.
Not to mention his passing ability is pretty underrated. As a sophomore, KJ had excellent passing instincts. When he has the ball, he always observes the movement of each teammate on the field and judges which teammate he is free to play. Although it must be said that his passing is quite easy to set up and his passing accuracy is not very good, it is easy to cause mistakes. But for the 20-year-old, as long as he shows his passing vision, assists and turnovers are better than this data.
It can be seen from the above paragraphs that as a sophomore, KJ is a player with very high golf quotient.
The scary thing is that he’s known not for his golf quotient or 3D attributes in the draft, but for his fitness. Before KJ entered the industry, his fitness was repeatedly touted, especially his unprecedented 48-inch rebound. How awesome is his physical prowess? His standing jump at the time was 41.5 inches, which was exactly the same as Kennedy Chandler’s 41.5 inches, the first runner-up in the 22 draft. The difference was that KJ didn’t have a run-up.
Therefore, he can become a skilled 3D spin player without relying on physical fitness. Wouldn’t it be great if she integrated fitness into his style of play?
Yes, the premise is that his dribbling should be practiced well. KJ in college has almost no dribbling skills; since he entered the industry, he has not been given the right to keep the ball in the Clippers, and the ball was in the hands of other Mesozoic ball holders, so naturally there has not been much growth in dribbling. But ever since the Trail Blazers tank days, the coach has directly characterized KJ as a ball-handling combo guard. KJ’s ball control has been experienced for half a season, and I think it has grown. At least the basic dribbling is fine, and there are also some dribbling rounds in the summer league.
But the defensive pressure encountered by KJ in the summer league is relatively large. After all, the summer league is a chance to show off. Everyone is working hard so KJ is under pressure for the matchup. At the time, his dribbling was error-prone. However, in NBA games, since he often plays with Simons or Lillard, KJ’s defensive pressure is naturally absorbed by the host. In the future, it will also be seen whether he can maintain stable dribbling to create opportunities when he tackles defenses .
Let’s go back to what the title asks: where is its ceiling? I mean, I don’t know. Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups’ rotation is too strict, and every game is 9 people on rotation until the end. Only when the players in front fail to play can it be the turn of the young players behind to catch up. KJ’s rotation time is too unstable, he can only play 15 minutes if other players are injured.
Remember a game where KJ came in with 29 seconds left in the first quarter. After hitting a 3-pointer, the first quarter was over and from the second quarter to the end of the game he didn’t play again. For young people, this kind of chance to play match after match will damage their confidence and suppress their room for growth.
Keon Johnson is very talented and now has the skills to survive and show steady progress, how can you not love him? Is it just that he can finally play it? Who can tell? Maybe just Chauncey Billups.
