James Johnson was spotted in a walking boot at the Toronto Raptors’ practice on Thursday, per Chris O’Leary of the Toronto Star. O’Leary assured me this was not the latest in a long string of Johnson fashion choices meant to fight the Toronto cold, and while I maintain that shorts-and-boots is a workable look if you’ve got the calves for it (Johnson and I both do), it sounds as if this is a legitimate injury.
Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun updates that head coach Dwane Casey said Johnson is fine. More as it comes, though this seems like a case where we won’t get an update until game-time Friday.
The timing couldn’t be much worse for this, if Johnson is hurt, with DeMarre Carroll already on the shelf.
Johnson’s been starting in his place and performing moderately well, averaging 5.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 19.8 minutes while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor. Johnson’s role has been up and down all season, drawing the ire of a good portion of the fan base. He’s appeared in 34 games, starting 13, and averaging 15 minutes, shooting 53.5 percent from the floor. The Raptors have been 2.2 points per-100 possessions worse with him on the floor though the starting lineup as currently constructed has been decent, outscoring opponents by 2.1 points per-100 possessions in 137 minutes together.
At this point, it’s well established what Johnson does and does not do well, and while he’s probably been a bit “under-utilized,” it hasn’t quite been to the degree some suggest. He’s best deployed opposite a strong wing scorer, and when opponents don’t have one of those, he loses his utility some because he can get spacy off the ball. At the same time, he’s great in transition, is one of the team’s better passers, and finishes well at the rim. There’s an argument to be made that Johnson, despite standing as a fine option as a replacement starter, may be best suited coming off the bench right now, anyway, helping Cory Joseph with the ball-handling load in the second unit. (Please read that carefully. It is not Johnson hate, it is a nod to a strength he has helping out a weakness the team has.)
If Johnson misses any time, Terrence Ross, who has played much better over the last six weeks, would stand to start. The Raptors lose some size doing that and it tasks DeMar DeRozan with guarding bigger wings, but there aren’t many other options. The Ross-DeRozan pairing has outscored opponents by 4.7 PPC over 493 minutes, improving the team’s play slightly at both ends, and only 253 of those minutes were lifted by Kyle Lowry. The current starting group with Ross in place of Johnson has only played 12 (good) minutes together this year, but Ross has a chemistry with Lowry, DeRozan, and Jonas Valanciunas dating back to 2012-13 now (that foursome has outscored opponents by 53 points in 1,591 minutes all time).
Norman Powell has played sparingly, may not be big enough to guard the three, and presents some spacing issues if paired with DeRozan. Anthony Bennett probably shouldn’t be considered a small forward any longer and has been unimpressive in short D-League stints. Bruno Caboclo isn’t ready for non-garbage time action. Patrick Patterson, who head coach Dwane Casey mentioned as a potential fill-in at the three, isn’t well-suited for that spot for long minutes. So if Johnson can’t go, it’s a lot of DeRozan and Ross, it’s a lot of two-point guard lineups, and it’s potential some weird basketball.
