Chicago Bulls: Ranking the franchise’s last 10 first-round picks
9. James Johnson (16th overall, 2009)
You know, it’s a shame combo forward James Johnson spent only 13 games under Tom Thibodeau in Chicago, shocking even, considering how much of a fit the gritty, all-effort Johnson and the lunchpail-y Thibs seem to be for one another.
Fate instead placed the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket in Chicago in 2009 — Vinny Del Negro coached the team then — thanks to the 16th overall pick the Bulls possessed. In the ensuing season-and-change, we learned about Johnson’s defensive prowess in the post and on the perimeter (1.8 Defensive Box Plus/Minus [DBPM]), but those positives were greatly outweighed by his detrimental offense (-4.4 Offensive Box Plus/Minus [OBPM]).
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Of course, his college shooting numbers — 29.6 percent from downtown; 69.3 percent from the free throw line — foreshadowed these struggles prior to Johnson entering the league, and they were apparently too glaring for the Bulls to handle. Plus, they already had Luol Deng — who was just as effective a defender and could, you know, consistently put the ball through the hoop — so that combo made Johnson all the more expendable.
The Bulls traded him in February 2011 to the Toronto Raptors for a first-round pick that would become Norris Cole, who they sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a package that brought back Nikola Mirotic. Johnson, meanwhile, has since embarked on a career that has seen him suit up for five other franchises, occupying the “tough guy you really, really don’t want to fight” position.