海角社区官网

There are NBA draft picks who have immediate impact because their already-developed skills already prepared them for handling the league.

And then there are the prospects, the players that teams are willing to wait for, players with an abundance of promise to be mined like minerals.

Tre Johnson, a six-foot-five point guard seen as a pick anywhere from third to 10th in next month鈥檚 NBA draft, certainly fits in the second category but someone most experts believe is worth waiting for.

The 19-year-old Texas freshman was called a 鈥渂ona fide bucket-getter鈥� in one pre-draft assessment 鈥� a shooter and a scorer.

鈥淗e can shoot from everywhere,鈥� one Eastern Conference scout said. 鈥淎nd if the rest of his game catches up to his offence, he鈥檚 going to be a good one.鈥�

Johnson shot 39.7 per cent from three-point range in his lone season with the Longhorns and averaged 19.9 points per game.

He is touted as a primary offensive threat in the NBA, both as a shooter in transition and in catch-and-shoot scenarios. His six-foot-10 wingspan should allow him to get his shot up against even bigger, stronger NBA defenders.

Still, it鈥檚 hard to conceive the Raptors having a burning interest in taking a point guard with the No. 9 pick because they already have Immanuel Quickley and Jamal Shead on long-term contracts.

But president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster have not played to form in past drafts so don’t totally discount the possibility.

If they do consider Johnson as the 鈥渂est available athlete鈥� when it comes to make the choice聽鈥� and that鈥檚 an assessment that can be pliant taken into consideration聽鈥� they could very well look at Johnson as a longer-term project who adds another asset to the pile.

The Raptors do need a third point guard to groom, a role Johnson seems to fit perfectly right now. It鈥檚 most likely 海角社区官网would rather find a third point guard among the hundreds of players who go undrafted but to completely dismiss the selection of Johnson might not be wise.

And Johnson does seem to be a prototypical point guard, even if he鈥檚 a raw one with very limited defensive skills that make him a longer-term prospect rather than someone who will demand heavy minutes as a rookie.

He鈥檚 fast but not overly quick laterally and that鈥檒l be an issue trying to keep an opponent in front of him defensively. At only 190 pounds there are questions about his ability to absorb the constant contact that comes in the NBA game and that might limit his inside scoring at the next level.

Whether Johnson has the work ethic and the realization that he鈥檚 nowhere near a finished product are concerns. He played with an abandon, sometimes out of control according to scouts who saw him multiple times. Will he learn the discipline needed?

But those are all issues that can be dealt with in the future, a team taking Johnson will fully understand they are getting someone who can grow into the game and his body; he鈥檚 very much a project but one with undeniable skills to build around.

Johnson, by most mock drafts right now, is linked primarily with Charlotte, Utah or Washington in the group behind Dallas (Cooper Flagg), San Antonio (Dylan Harper) and Philadelphia (Ace Bailey).

But there is much uncertainty about the next half dozen players, Johnson among them. What transpires in individual workouts and one-on-one interviews in the month leading up to the draft, that鈥檚 when teams might seem some order developing.

But the over-riding debate will continue, as it has raged about Johnson.

Do teams see the long-term possibilities, will the players themselves truly understand they have so much distance to go and will they be able to handle it.