Monday, October 17, 2005

Transition game: Pistons won't rush teen Johnson

Team keeps 18-year-old away from minor-league affiliate so it can gauge him on and off the court.

By Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Noah Graham / Getty Images Rookie Amir Johnson might visit the NBDL team in Fayetteville, N.C., when the Pistons are spending time on the road this season. Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

AUBURN HILLS -- When the NBA established its minor-league affiliation with the National Basketball Developmental League this summer, it did so with players such as Pistons forward Amir Johnson in mind.

Here is an 18-year-old, fresh out of high school with raw talent and unlimited potential who most likely won't get much playing time on a successful, veteran-laden team such as the Pistons.

With the minor-league system in place, you would figure the Pistons could send Johnson to their NBDL affiliate in Fayetteville, N.C., and let him get some real on-the-court training.

But it doesn't look like it's going to work that way.

"It's not just that he's a rookie, but he's a high school kid and there's a lot more involved in his first year," said George David, the Pistons' director of scouting, who was one of the first NBA scouts to discover Johnson, a Los Angeles-area high school star. "It's not just about his development on the basketball court. He's 18. We have to make sure we are on top of him on the court and off the court.

"For us to send him away for an extended period of time, we're just not confident that's the right thing to do for him right now."

David said it would be different if Johnson had played three or four years in college and had lived on his own. But presently, the Pistons don't know what the setup will be in Fayetteville, in terms of playing and living conditions.

The Pistons, at this point, appear inclined to keep Johnson with the parent club, even if it means he stays on the inactive list most of the season.

"There is something to be said for accountability, for actually seeing guys every day," said John Hammond, the Pistons' vice president of basketball. "I mean, his face time would be in our facility working with our team every day. It doesn't really get any better than that."

Johnson has impressed with his athleticism, but, as expected, he remains well below the curve in terms of understanding the game, especially the nuances of coach Flip Saunders' offensive and defensive systems.

Complicating matters further, Johnson, at 6-foot-9, was primarily a post player in high school. The Pistons have been working him mostly at small forward.

"I am learning a lot," Johnson said. "I am out running pick-and-rolls and I never did that before."

Johnson very nearly fell through one of the few holes in the NBA scouting web, which is partly why the Pistons were in position to draft him with the 56th overall pick. Even though he was Mr. Basketball in California and led Westchester High School to the state title last season, he stayed under the NBA radar (he was set to sign with Louisville) because he went to three high schools and sat out his junior season.

"His breakout game was at Sonny Vaccaro's Roundball Classic in Chicago, and that wasn't until March," David said. "That's really late for a kid with that much talent to come onto the scene."

David had seen him earlier, during the California state tournament. He was so impressed that he advised director of player personnel Scott Perry and president Joe Dumars to forgo plans to scout the Pac-10 college tournament to come see Johnson.

"Two things stood out," David said. "He was the best athlete I ever saw, for one. And, he had a really good knack, for a high school kid, timing-wise, for blocking shots. He averaged nine blocks a game. That means there were some games when he'd block 15 shots and others when he'd block like five -- pretty impressive either way."

Johnson has displayed that athleticism in camp, too. He might be the team's quickest jumper and best dunker (though Ron Dupree might disagree). And Johnson has enough foot speed that he could eventually play small forward.

"Right now, until we have a better handle on what is going on with the development league, we feel like he will be better served here," coach Flip Saunders said. "Right now, we're just trying to get him to understand what we're trying to do, get him to learn the professionalism of this game."

But Saunders won't completely rule out at least one or two runs in Fayetteville.

"If we were to go on an extended west coast trip and he's not going to be playing, maybe we would send him down for two weeks," Saunders said. "That way he could play instead of not doing anything."

The Pistons go west twice in the first two months of the season, which would be too early for Johnson to be sent down. There is a stretch between Feb. 27 and March 18 where the Pistons will play eight of 10 games on the road, ending in Charlotte.

If Johnson is sent down, that would probably be the time.

"If he makes the same amount of improvement over the course of the season as we've seen him make from March until now, everybody will be more than happy," David said.

You can reach Chris McCosky at (313) 222-1489 or chris.mccosky@detnews.com.