After a rocky start to his rookie campaign, Johnny Davis ended the season on a hot streak where he looked like a legitimate lottery pick. Despite his late season success, there is still plenty of room for improvement for the young guard.
Already at a young age, Davis is an elite defender, that much is clear. It’s the offensive side of the floor that Davis has struggled adjusting to. Although, this is not the worst thing in the world as there are numerous stars both past and present who struggled to put the ball in the hoop to start their careers.
Johnny Davis will need to grow as a shooter if he wants minutes with the Washington Wizards
To get the obvious out of the way, Davis will need to grow as a shooter. This is an area most expected him to struggle in at first. Although, I doubt many predicted that he would be so underwhelming from three-point range that he would shoot under 25% from three. It is very uncommon to see an undersized two-guard succeed without a semi-reliable jump shot in the NBA.
While he may not have shot it terribly efficiently, he did take 2.5 shots per game from beyond the arc. A willingness to shoot the ball is usually a good sign that a player can improve as a shooter. Complete refusal to shoot the ball can lead to holding a player back in that department as we saw in Philadelphia.
If Davis is able to add even a halfway respectable jump shot to his repertoire, it would cause the defense to at least defend him at the perimeter. This would open up the drive game for him as well as give other players on the Wizards room to operate.
Johnny Davis needs to improve as a playmaker to really make him dangerous
Despite being a six-foot three guard, Johnny Davis only averaged a singular assist per game this season. This is something that he will need to improve going forward. Once again, this is an area where undersized shooting guards need to be effective to succeed.
Adding this aspect of the sport into his game would open up Davis’ other strengths. With his impressive ability to finish at the rim, even adding a ‘Rondo fake’ would be greatly beneficial for him as it would get him easier looks at the rim. This would also force the defense to respect his playmaking, causing them to bite more often.
Adding this ability would cause the entire offense to grow in ability as even just a secondary playmaker off the bench can make a huge difference.
He doesn’t need to make crazy behind the back passes while falling out of bounds like Luka Doncic or Nikola Jokic, he just needs to have a greater ability to find teammates in the corner or place the ball just in front of the defender on a hard baseline cut.
Johnny Davis needs to get to the rim more often to succeed
For a player who is a limited shooter past the short midrange, it would make sense for a majority of Davis’ shot diet to consist of attempts within three feet of the basket. While this is a great assumption, only 14% of his shot attempts are in that range. On the flip side, over 40% of his shots come from three-point range.
This is particularly frustrating considering the fact that Davis shot 70.8% within three feet of the hoop and 24.3% from three-point range. This is a stark contrast, even when accounting for the huge difference in shot difficulty.
It is clear that Davis needs to stop settling for jump shots and drive the ball more often. This would open up not only his three-point shooting for easier looks, but also give him more avenues as a playmaker. This seems like the biggest area for the young guard to work on this offseason.
Taking advantage of his clear ability to score at the rim would not only generate more points for the Wizards but it would also force the defense to think more often as there aren’t really any threats to drive the ball on the current roster.
If Johnny Davis is able to add these three skills to his repertoire next season, he will see a huge second year jump. This is also a great way for him to solidify himself in the rotation for the foreseeable future.