Orlando Magic 2021 NBA Draft Preview: Jalen Johnson brings offensive potential

This year’s NBA draft has intriguing prospects throughout the lottery.

While this class is considered to be a five-player draft, the Nos. 5 through 10 prospects are still talented and deserve a look as teams look to move up and down on draft night. Jalen Johnson is no exception as he provides offensive abilities that can contribute to any team for years to come.

Johnson ranked 13th out of high school on ESPN’s Top 100 list back in the class of 2020, he seemed to have the potential to be the best offensive player in this year’s draft. That talent does not simply go away in such a short time.

There are a couple of reasons why he is not projected to be a top-five pick from his weird college situation to other players performing extremely well during their seasons, Johnson still has the potential to be a good NBA talent if given the opportunity.

Jalen Johnson entered college as one of the top high school prospects. But injuries and a quick departure saw the talented forward enter the draft as more of a mystery.

While there is not a lot of sample size on Johnson because of his midseason departure from Duke to focus on before the draft, his skill set was still shown on his small stint at Duke.

In only 13 games, he averaged 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. The stats will not jump out because he only played 21.4 minutes per game. But he did shoot the ball well at 52.3-percent from the field and 44.4-percent from beyond the arc. However, he only shot 63.2-percent from the free-throw line, but that can be contributed to only taking 38 free throws in his short time.

The biggest skill that Johnson put on display in college was his athleticism. He could make incredible plays in the open floor and that bodes well for him transitioning to the NBA.

Regardless of his stats, he will potentially provide a skill set the Orlando Magic are missing. The ability to shoot and score will spread the floor and create openings for Johnson’s teammates.

Johnson will need time to develop and work on his skills, but he has already shown the potential to be a three-level scorer. He has been given comparisons of Tobias Harris in terms of skill set, but it is noted he is a project and will be a player that will likely not be ready to contribute at a high-level day one.

His athleticism also provides a seamless fit with any roster in the NBA.

Johnson’s athleticism combined with his 6-foot-9 height provides the versatility to be able to switch on defense and guard both the paint and the perimeter. In a league where switching is important, this potential skill set is a reason that any team should look at Johnson.

This projects years down the road with Johnson. He is still extremely raw and will need time to grow and get used to the NBA game. He has been regarded to be a step too slow to get by quick defenders and slightly short of force when driving into strong defenders.

The game is not always played in transition. Johnson has to take that athleticism and decision-making he displayed on an open court into a half-court setting where much of his speed for his size gets taken away.

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These “weaknesses” are usually seen in players who are considered to be a project. Like all young players, he needs to improve his decision-making off the dribble and awareness on the court.

Johnson has a lot of the tools a team would want, it will be about putting them all together. And his sample at Duke was still too small to draw any conclusions.

Scouts will likely look at the lower free throw percentage as a sign of his shooting potential rather than his 3-point field goal percentage (especially considering the sample size). And while Johnson is brilliant in transition, he can sometimes force things in the half-court.

This is a sometimes normal problem for high-level high school prospects when they enter the higher levels of basketball and competition that can better compete with their athleticism. Johnson is not going to be able to rely solely on his athleticism to create space and get to the basket. The NBA will be a different world for him.

While Johnson showed plenty of signs of how he would fit into the NBA, there were still plenty of inconsistent signs throughout his short season. Those signs may have dissipated with more tape. NBA scouts are going to be working with a limited sample size when they evaluate Johnson.

But as Johnson gets time to develop with an NBA staff, he will have the opportunity to smooth out the edges in his game.

That should not be a problem if the Magic do end up staying pat at this draft. The Magic are not going to be ready to compete in the next year, so Johnson will have the time to develop. If the Magic have the belief that Johnson can develop into a scorer in the NBA, then Orlando should take a good look.

Jalen Johnson’s roller-coaster ride during his year at Duke is going to make this decision tough, but even though Johnson brings mystery, he may end up being the right choice for a team that needs offense.