Washington Wizards: Johnny Davis needs to do better in Summer League

The Washington Wizards’ 10th overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft Johnny Davis is one of the team leaders in the Las Vegas Summer League. The 21-year-old shooting guard has taken some strides forward but his performance in the first two summer league games hasn’t erased the question marks about his NBA fit.

Johnny Davis spent most of last season with the Wizards’ G League affiliate Capital City Go-Go before joining the team in the last stretch of the season. He finished his rookie season with 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1 assist on 38.6% shooting from the field in 15 minutes per game. The Wizards are hopeful he can build on that and have a much better sophomore campaign.

Johnny Davis has shown so far in his college and pro career that he can be a solid defender. He is tough, strong, and competitive. His quick feet and high effort level make him a nuisance on the ball defensively.

The questions for Davis are on the offensive end. The Summer League is crucial for Johnny Davis to show what he is capable of, especially in terms of his scoring and efficiency. The early returns so far in the first two games in Las Vegas aren’t encouraging.

Davis still struggles against bigger and more athletic players. He is aggressive in attacking but can’t create good enough separation to get open looks. He gets stonewalled and stopped too often on his drives, and he doesn’t have the length and athleticism to finish over the defenders. This causes him to either force a tough shot around the rim or rely heavily on floaters and mid-rangers.

And it is difficult to be efficient on a shot diet that relies on such shots, especially without going to the free-throw line. Davis hasn’t shot a free throw in two games so far and had averaged less than one free throw in 28 games with the Wizards last season. This is why in both Summer League games so far, Davis has scored fewer points than his field goal attempts.

Davis is averaging 15.5 points on 41.1% from the field in two games. Yes, he is expected to do a lot of shot creation and one-on-one scoring. However, at the Summer League level, a lottery pick from a year ago has to dominate nevertheless. And Davis hasn’t done that so far. Let’s hope he does better in the remaining games to carve himself a more prominent role with the Wizards next season.