7 Imaginative NBA player comparisons for Milwaukee Bucks guard AJ Johnson
Dream Comparison for AJ Johnson: Ja Morant
If the Milwaukee Bucks could develop AJ Johnson into an on-court version of Ja Morant, their title window with Giannis Antetokounmpo can remain open even after Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez retire.
Let's get the obvious thing out of the way; Ja Morant is known as a high-flying athletic freak. Johnson has some crazy jumping ability as well. While Johnson doesn't have Morant's 46-inch vertical, 38 inches is a pretty big bounce for a guy at 6-foot-4, compared to Ja Morant, who is 6-foot-2.
Ja Morant, like De'Aaron Fox is known as one of the fastest players in the NBA, and as previously stated, AJ Johnson has a lot of growing to do before sniffing that conversation. Still, the Bucks rookie has speed that will play in the NBA.
Looking at other comparisons of size, Ja Morant wasn't measured at the combine but currently weighs in at 174 pounds with his 6-foot-2 frame. Johnson, at 6-foot-4, is only seven pounds behind. Ja Morant's wingspan measures at 6-foot-7, so AJ Johnson has him beat by an inch and half in that regard as well.
Looking at numbers, Morant has played very limited minutes over the last couple of seasons due to injury and off-the-court issues. Looking at his career, he averages 22.5 points, 7.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game in 32.2 minutes per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from the 3-point line and 75.5 percent at the free throw line.
The per game averages may be tough to aspire to for AJ Johnson, at least until a time comes when he is good enough to take over a large role. However, at 32.2 minutes per game, Johnson would average 16.2 points, 4.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game. This is a dream comparison, so in this dream, AJ Johnson would need to take a leap talent-wise around his second to third year in the NBA to realize this potential.
That said, the percentage numbers for Ja Morant, 47.2 field goal, 31.8 3-point and 75.5 free throw, are all realistic numbers that AJ Johnson could meet and possibly exceed. The athletic prowess and percentage numbers will be the best way to see if Johnson could reach Morant's level in the future.