These aren't the best highlights considering it was his first game of the season, but they'll have to do.
Earlier this week, ESPN's Marc Stein reported that Alexander Johnson was going to visit the Houston Rockets for a tryout.
The tryout apparently went well, I hear, as the Houston Rockets have signed Alexander Johnson, opening up a roster spot by releasing Hilton Armstrong.
Johnson averaged 23 points and 11.1 rebounds while shooting 57% from the field in 22 games for the Skyforce, including 10 starts.
If you're looking for more than numbers on Johnson, I would like to direct you to my piece about the 6-foot-9 forward from March 15th in which I begin with some superb hyperbole: "Alexander Johnson is the most NBA-ready big man the NBA Development League has ever seen."
Biggest Positive: His low post game isn't particularly refined, mostly consisting of counter moves followed by a dunk of some sort. It's been very effective, however, because to make up for the occasions that he doesn't score, he gets to the line at a pretty alarming rate. He's actually been to the charity stripe more often (202 times) than he's credited for field goal attempts (196). That's astoundingly efficient. When he gets the ball further out, he typically puts the ball on the floor and beats the (usually) slower defender to the basket. I've actually been really impressed with this facet of his game.
Biggest Negative: his turnover numbers are downright worrisome: averaging 4.1 turnovers in 32 minutes of action when playing in the post is not a good thing. In fact, it's the second worst in the league as he trails only Iowa's point guard, Curtis Stinson - who is averaging 4.2 turnovers per game in over 42 minutes per game. Of course, this probably won't become such an issue as the fourth or fifth big man on an NBA team compared to being the go-to post option in the D-League.
This is a great opportunity for Johnson, who probably should never have been away from the NBA after a couple of decent seasons with both the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat early in his career.
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