Standing as one of the best shooters in this year’s NBA Draft, we look at the game of senior forward from the University of North Carolina, Cameron Johnson.
It hasn’t always been a smooth journey, but University of North Carolina forward Cameron Johnson’s strong close to his five-year collegiate career has set the stage for his entry into this year’s NBA Draft.
Standing as one of the oldest prospects in this class, Johnson started out his college play with the University of Pittsburgh as they were quick to offer the 23-year-old a scholarship after he made huge strides, both physically and in his game, during his senior season in high school.
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But turmoil eventually enveloped the program, which was headlined by a coaching change, and following Johnson’s redshirt sophomore season, he elected to use the graduate transfer rule to leave the Steel City to go to Chapel Hill.
A lengthy dispute followed Johnson’s decision to leave the Tigers as the school initially prevented the move with him aiming to move to an inter-conference rival.
Eventually, Pittsburgh buckled to Johnson’s request and he finished out the final two years of his college eligibility with the Tar Heels, a move that gave way to Johnson raising his profile as a draft prospect.
Now while his age is often looked as a negative throughout the pre-draft process in terms of projecting out his development, Johnson turned it around and talked about the valuable experience he has gained throughout his time in the college ranks at this year’s NBA Draft Combine as transcribed by Inside Carolina:
"“Experience, I think that experience is valuable. I can point to many big games that I’ve played in. With experience comes a lot. Some of the younger guys, 18 and 19 years old living out on their own for the first time, I feel like I’m at a point in my life where I can handle a move to a different city and handle what pro basketball will throw at you.”"
In his 36 appearances with the Tar Heels during his redshirt senior season, Johnson averaged 16.9 points on .506/.457/.818 shooting splits, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals across 29.9 minutes per contest.
So without further ado, let’s break down what Cameron Johnson has to offer on the next level by looking at his strengths, his current deficiencies and injury red flags, where draft experts currently rate him and examine his potential fit with the Milwaukee Bucks.