Empty the Bench

I hate to see it end like this.

Amir Johnson, whom I’ve spent the last 2 years hyping up to anybody that would (or wouldn’t) listen, has been cast off by the Detroit Pistons in exchange for net savings of about $1.7 million on the team’s payroll.

In the end, all that potential and freakish athletic talent the 22-year-old infrequently flashed over his four seasons in Detroit amounted to little more than extra salary-cap space in a summer when the league’s best unrestricted free agents are mostly viewed with a skeptical, sleepy yawn.

I’ll be the first to admit that Johnson blew a golden opportunity last season to firmly establish himself in the Pistons’ long-term plans, especially since they’ve clearly transitioned into rebuilding mode. Handed a starting job on the Pistons’ frontline alongside Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince, Johnson fizzled early, was eventually benched, and essentially fell out of the regular rotation by season’s end for the 39-43 Pistons.

On the season he recorded just two double-doubles (and those came against the meek New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings) and averaged 4.8 points, 4.9 boards, 1 block, and nearly 4 fouls per 19:30 minutes as a starter; he was, in fact, one of the most foul-prone players in the entire league.

Few expected an immediate huge jump in production in his first season of extended playing time, but most thought he’d at the very least add the kind of jump-out-of-the-gym athleticism and explosiveness this team sorely lacked. Unfortunately, it never really happened, with Johnson’s on-court body language often alternating between disinterested, confused, and discouraged.

Put some of that on head coach Michael Curry and the coaching staff, but going balls out with consistent effort, hustle, and moxy isn’t something that needs coaching. Johnson had a poor season which, if anything, saw him regress instead of improve.

A late-second round pick in ‘05 out of high school (he’s in the record books as the last high-schooler to be drafted before David Stern imposed the age limit), Johnson still has a chance to make an impact at the professional level. In some ways he compares favorably with the Washington Wizards’ Andray Blatche in that he’s long, athletic, can do a variety of things well, but struggles with consistency, is far too foul-prone, needs to bulk up, and must improve his basketball IQ. Whether his new lease on NBA life in Milwaukee will have a similarly positive impact as Chauncey Billups’ rejuvenating move to Denver did remains to be seen.

At the very least, this is a decent roll of the dice for the moribund Milwaukee Bucks and GM John Hammond, who you recall came to Wisconsin after a long run in Detroit’s front office next to GM Joe Dumars. Maybe he knows something about Johnson, thinks there’s still something there, and capitalized on the fact that his old partner is trying to clear out as much salary as possible at the moment.

Johnson is in a contract year, so he should be motivated and should be given the chance to earn big minutes on a so-so Bucks’ frontcourt. How he’ll mesh with head coach Scott Skiles is anybody’s guess, but as an unabashed Johnson fan and apologist for awhile now, this at least gives me somewhat of a reason to tune into the Bucks on League Pass from time to time next season, especially if the team loses incumbent starting power forward Charlie Villanueva (restricted free agent).

As for the Pistons, they’re angling to make a huge splash in the free-agent market and, perhaps, by taking on salary via trade. Rumors abound about Dumars’ hot pursuit of both Ben Gordon and Carlos Boozer, especially if he’s looking to move Richard Hamilton to a SG-needy team who can offer something of value in return. (New Orleans for Tyson Chandler? Philadelphia for Samuel Dalembert? Utah for Andrei Kirilenko?)

This conversation belongs in its own post, but speaking strictly as a Pistons fan, Gordon and Boozer fit the bill of players who look good on paper, but who don’t strike me as championship-team core material. But, then again, maybe there’s more to Dumars’ plan than Gordon and Boozer; we’ll find out soon enough.

For now, the Amir Johnson Era in Detroit has ended with a whimper; I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little bit sad. It’ll be even worse if Johnson follows the same late-blooming career development of Tracy McGrady or Jermaine O’Neal.

Related Reading:
- Four Factors in the Detroit Pistons’ Sudden and Surprising Fall from Grace
- Untapped Potential: Ten NBA Players We Want to See on the Court More Often
- Amir Johnson Becoming a D-League Favorite
- Keep Your Eye on Amir Johnson
- ETB’s Scribes of the NBA Interview Series – Matt Watson of Detroit Bad Boys

Amir Johnson Photo Credit: Icon SMI