Milwaukee Bucks rookie AJ Johnson has yet to play a minute of NBA basketball.
However, we did get to see him play for the Milwaukee Bucks Summer League team. During the five games of Summer League in July, we saw why AJ Johnson was thought of by this writer as one of the best players on the roster and is surely NBA-bound.
Bucks' AJ Johnson turned heads in Summer League
Summer League is over, and preseason is still two months away, but seeing AJ Johnson in action in a Bucks uniform has the fans buzzing and apologizing for judging the pick too soon.
Johnson didn't have flashy stats, but he was solid nonetheless, averaging 11.2 points, 2.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game. He shot 32.3 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from the 3-point line and 60 percent at the free throw line.
The fun of making comparisons to what AJ Johnson could be has just begun. That said, let's look at seven NBA players that AJ Johnson could compare to with some development and imagine what that could do for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Fair warning: these comparisons will require some imagination and, over the next two to three years, will assume development, both physically and skill-wise, from AJ Johnson to reach them.
Coaching by Doc Rivers and his staff, as well as his teammates, will factor into the development of AJ Johnson, who was one of the youngest draft-eligible players in the 2024 NBA Draft.