This time last year, James Johnson was playing in relative obscurity for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the D-League.
The former first round pick of the Chicago Bulls in the 2009 NBA Draft had worn out his welcome in Chicago, Toronto, Sacramento and Atlanta, and it looked like by age 25 his playing days in the NBA might over.
A lot of members of the media or basketball fans point to the 10 games that Johnson played in the D-League as something that humbled Johnson because when he was signed by the Memphis Grizzlies in mid-December he came back to the NBA a different player.
He immediately carved out a spot in the rotation by averaging 23.1 minutes in December, 21.1 minutes in January and 20.5 minutes in February.
Johnson, however, has a different take on his time in the D-League to start last season.
“I wouldn’t say humbling,” Johnson said when asked about his time last season in the D-League. “I would say motivating. It brought me back. It got my winner back. When I was down there I was the reason why my team was successful. I was the reason we were almost undefeated. I was everything to that team.”
Johnson showed flashed of being a productive player last season when he had six blocks against the Milwaukee Bucks in January and when he scored 20 points against the San Antonio Spurs in April.
But by the time the playoffs rolled around he struggled to find his way onto the court and he only played in three games while averaging 9.3 minutes of burn.
This summer Johnson surprised many fans and media members who cover the Raptors when he elected to return to Toronto on a two-year contract after butting heads with head coach Dwane Casey his last time here in Toronto.
“At that time of his career, he wasn’t ready to accept the role he was in,” Casey told the media during Media Day when he was asked about Johnson’s first stint with the Toronto Raptors. “It wasn’t that it was personal or anything. I’ve got a different approach with James (Johnson) this time. He’s at a different place in his life as a person and doing a great job of really, really staying within his lane, keeping the game really simple and making the easy plays. That’s going to be his growth pattern and the more he is able to continue doing that the more he is going to grow as a player.”
During training camp Johnson chalked his return to Toronto to the fact he had grown up and matured since his last played for the Raptors.
“I grew up,” Johnson admitted to the media back in training camp. “I am more mature and I put most of that weight on me. His first-year coaching (in Toronto) and my first year being coached by him, it was mostly me. I’m just happy he had me back and everything is working out.”
Johnson not only matured and grew up, but he has turned into the kind of player on the defensive end that Dwane Casey craves. On Friday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Casey had Johnson spend most of his time on the court guarding LeBron James, but he also had Johnson guard Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love for spurts. Having a player come off the bench that can guard a four-time MVP small forward and an all-star point guard and all-star power forward is a great weapon for any coach or team to possess.
While Johnson is only averaging 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game – far from flashy stats – he has become a big part of Toronto’s success. When you dig into the advanced stats, you’ll find he has an impressive plus/minus score of + 58 which is almost as good as Terrence Ross (64) and much better than Jonas Valanciunas (26).
On Friday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Johnson was one of only three players to have a positive plus/minus score and he had a team-high +4 while spending most of his time on the court guarding LeBron James.
Johnson is staying in his lane by only averaging 5.3 field goal attempts per game but shooting a sizzling 57.8% from the field. He’s learned he shouldn’t be shooting from beyond the arc (he’s shooting 26.7% from three-point territory this season) and 60 of his 90 field goals this season have come from within five-feet of the basket.
In fact, Johnson has had such a positive impact on the court this season that there have been cries from bloggers and some members of the mainstream media to find a spot in the starting five for Johnson, especially with DeMar DeRozan currently being sidelined with a torn tendon in his upper left thigh/groin area.
The problem with inserting Johnson into Toronto’s starting five is that it weakens Toronto’s bench and it could result in Johnson pressing things and deviating from what’s currently making him successful.
The fact that there’s even a discussion of Johnson starting on a team that currently sits atop the Eastern Conference standings shows just how far Johnson has come over the past 12 months.
Kudos to Johnson and Casey for having the maturity to give things a second chance here in Toronto because it’s a decision that is paying big dividends for the Toronto Raptors so far this season.
