NBA Draft: Zion Williamson still first in 2019 Redraft

It is rare that a lottery pick is able to be a difference-maker for an NBA Finals team in their first two seasons, but the 2019 NBA Draft class boasts two such players. The first one to go in our redraft is Cameron Johnson, the former North Carolina sharpshooting forward who originally went 11th overall to the Phoenix Suns. At the time, most draft analysts thought that Phoenix had reached significantly in taking Johnson that high, even if they traded down to do so.

Two years later, and it’s clear the Suns made a shrewd evaluation of Johnson’s ability to drive winning basketball. The core of his impact comes from the shooting, which is sublime. Johnson is a career 38.1 percent 3-point shooter on 5.3 attempts per game, which equates to about 8.1 attempts per-36 minutes. He is deadly from the corners but has even flashed a cut-and-shoot game where he lances inside the arc to catch-and-pop from midrange.

Defensively Johnson was expected to get run over, but in fact, he has proven capable of holding his own. He moves his feet well and competes, and at 6’8″ is tall enough to contest most shots. Despite some expectations of chronic injuries, he has appeared in 117 games over the past two seasons. He was a key rotation player in the Phoenix Suns’ run to the NBA Finals, shooting 44.6 percent from distance in the playoffs.

The Chicago Bulls thought they took their version of Cam Johnson in 2018, taking Arizona shooting big Lauri Markkanen. While Markkanen hasn’t been bad, Johnson has been better, and would fit that role well for the Bulls. The best way to juice an offense quickly is to add shooting, and Johnson brings that at an elite level, possibly as the best shooter in the entire draft.