The 2014-15 NBA season has officially come to a close; a new champion has been anointed and the draft has concluded. The end of the NBA season is also the unofficial start of the worst five weeks in a sports fan's life as it is the slowest and quietest period of the year. There are some fairly minimal NBA trades that get done and there will be some free agent news to follow; however, there is little drama left to this offseason as the marquee players who were rumoured to be looking around have all penned new deals and those who remain unsigned are all figured to be staying put.
This is the fitting time of the year to sum up the NBA draft and profile the incoming lottery selections. eDraft Sports has highlighted the best sleeper picks of the draft and now we move into more in depth analysis of each lottery selection. Granted any true reflection on these players would be much better served after at least a couple seasons of experience; however, we will offer initial reviews and projections for the upcoming season.
At the number eight spot the Detroit Pistons selected Arizona's Stanley Johnson. This pick came as a bit of a surprise to many as the versatile and highly regarded Justise Winslow was still on the board. The Pistons did schedule a pre-draft workout with Johnson and that workout was Johnson’s last one before draft day, so it is entirely likely that the Pistons were targeting Johnson right from the beginning.
The acquisition of Johnson here definitely fits into the Piston’s needs as they are fairly set at the other four positions except for small forward. Johnson will certainly bring the athleticism, range and defense to the position and he should be able to challenge for a starting spot right from the get go.
Johnson is fresh off a very impressive Orlando Summer League performance where he was clearly the best in-coming small forward from the draft class. Johnson outplayed Winslow and put up much better numbers than the fifth overall pick in Mario Hezonja. Johnson scored well during the league play, he shot the ball well from the perimeter and best of all he played some stellar defense along the way. There is definitely reason for optimism in Detroit with this young man as he could finally be the answer at the small forward position after so many years of making do with washed up veterans out there.