Johnny Davis Scouting Report: Stats, NBA Draft Ranking, Highlights, Comparison
Contents
Johnny Davis is yet another NBA Draft prospect that we are covering who decided to come back for his sophomore year and greatly benefitted from it. Davis would not have been drafted after his freshman season, similar to a player like Keegan Murray at Iowa. Now, both players are projected to get picked in the lottery in this year’s draft. Several players returned to college for a second year and propelled up draft boards because of that decision, including Mark Williams, Benn Mathurin, Keegan Murray, Jaden Ivey, and Davis.
Johnny Davis Scouting Report
Frequently, throughout the 2021-22 season, Johnny Davis was the only offense for the Wisconsin Badgers. He consistently shouldered almost the entire load of an otherwise subpar offense to lead Wisconsin to an incredibly successful season. These are the player traits that could lead to Davis becoming a primary scorer at the next level. However, it will still take some work, including significant improvement to his three-point shooting. Check out all of Davis’ measurements, strengths, and weaknesses below to better understand where he fits in on my draft big board.
Age: 20
Height: 6’5.75”
Weight: 196.4 lbs
Wingspan: 6’8.5”
Position: SG
College: Wisconsin
Strengths: Johnny Davis is an elite mid-range scorer already as a 20-year-old; he will instantly be better in that area than well over 90% of NBA players. The mid-range is somewhat of a dying art due to a rise in appreciation of analytics and the idea of what the “best shots” are on the floor statistically. However, players can still make a living in the mid-range and then add on to that in other areas, including guys like Chris Paul and Devin Booker. Davis is also a spectacular defender who had fit in well at Wisconsin, which was very defensive-centric as a team this past season. Davis has the size and length necessary to defend wings and guards, and if he continues improving on that end, he could become an elite defender for 1-3s. Additionally, Davis has functional athleticism; he’s not going to bounce off the floor as emphatically as Benn Mathurin or Jaden Ivey, but he can rise up and dunk on a defender. Last, but not least, Davis is an amazing rebounder and such an asset on the glass after averaging over eight rebounds per game!
Weaknesses: The most apparent weakness for Davis is his three-point shooting, which was barely over 30% on the season. He displayed some capabilities of hitting threes off of catch-and-shoot looks, but off the dribble was highly inconsistent. If Davis can make his deep shooting at least passable, then the rest of his game will open up even more. Unfortunately, it looks pretty uncomfortable right now, so it could be a while before he truly gets to that point. Undoubtedly, he has the work ethic to develop; it just may not be as soon as scouts and execs would like.
Johnny Davis Stats
| PPG | RPG | APG | FG % | 3P% | FT% | TO | STL | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.7 | 8.2 | 2.1 | 42.7 | 30.6 | 79.1 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
Johnny Davis NBA Draft Ranking, Team Fit, Landing Spot
Draft Ranking: 12
Team Fit: I love the idea of Johnny Davis playing for the San Antonio Spurs next to Dejounte Murray. Davis has all of the characteristics of a player who would fit in with the Spurs organization: hardworking, talented, tremendous upside, and a defensive menace. Davis fills many holes on both ends of the floor for a team that is in desperate need of adding talented pieces.
Landing Spot: Johnny Davis is another player that has a wide range of where he could fall in the 2022 draft. He will most likely get selected in the lottery, but that could be between seventh to the Portland Trail Blazers and fourteenth to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Johnny Davis NBA Comparison: Devin Booker
There is no comparison that better matches Johnny Davis than Devin Booker, an All-Star shooting guard for the Phoenix Suns. Like Booker, Davis leans heavily on scoring in the mid-range and off of pull-ups, which has proved to still be profitable at the NBA level if you are good enough at it. Davis even moves similarly to Booker on the floor, looking fluid and not wasting any energy on unnecessary movement. Obviously, Booker is the “ceiling” for Johnny Davis, but that would be an exceptional ceiling to hit.
Johnny Davis Highlights
In the video embedded below, you will see that there are a ton of similarities between Devin Booker and Johnny Davis. Additionally, there are different strengths and weaknesses displayed in the highlight footage, so you will get to see first-hand what makes Davis an intriguing but unfinished prospect for at next level. The main weakness to Davis’ game is three-point shooting, but his shooting mechanics seem intact, so that should hopefully come around. It may not happen overnight, though, so patience will be critical.
https://youtu.be/PIr9_B76mIc
