NBA: Ranking all 30 starting small forwards for 2017-18
28. Stanley Johnson, Detroit Pistons
Kentavious Caldewell-Pope and Marcus Morris are gone, and with Avery Bradley filling the hole at shooting guard, the opportunity is there for Stanley Johnson to start making good on all his bold pre-draft talk at the 3-spot.
Though he’s still only 21 years old, Johnson’s first two years in the league haven’t gone according to plan with the Detroit Pistons. He got good run his first year, but wasn’t able to earn Stan Van Gundy’s trust. His minutes dropped from 23.1 per game as a rookie to 17.8 per game last season.
It’s no wonder why, since Stan the Man averaged 4.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, shooting a putrid 35.3 percent from the field, 29.2 percent from deep and 67.9 percent from the line while posting a PER of 7.1. Hopefully with a clear path to the starting job, he’ll finally be able to jumpstart his NBA career.