Suns rookies extend their unique 1st year
Johnson, Jerome can help team’s playoff push
Being part of the NBA restart at Walt Disney World Resort is just an extension of what has been a challenging and unique rookie season for Cam Johnson and Ty Jerome.
Part of draft-day trades. No Summer League.
Injuries. lows.
Then COVID-19 shut down everything including the NBA.
Months later, the 2019-20 season is resuming with Phoenix being one of the 22 teams chosen, thus giving Johnson and Jerome another chance to help the Suns make a playoff push in the Orlando bubble amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The fact that after that I get a chance to finish out the season with these guys is definitely really special to me,” said Johnson, who was out with mononucleosis when the season was put on hold in March. “So I was excited when we had the opportunity to come back and play these games here.”
Phoenix (26-39) will open its eight regular-season “seedings” schedule July 31 against Washington (24-40) at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Suns coach Monty Williams noticed a change in Johnson’s body when the team participated in voluntary workouts at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
“I don’t know how much muscle he’s added, I don’t want to fabricate that, but he’s put some muscle on,” Williams said.
Johnson said after Wednesday’s practice he gained “10ish to 12ish pounds” while the season was put on hold March 11 by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.
“When I got (back) to Arizona, I just maintained that,” said Johnson, who according to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review made a 28-hour drive from Phoenix to his home of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
“As we kind of heard the season was starting back up, I started getting back in the gym more, getting shots up and focusing back on skill, but the beginning of
Typical
rookie
highs
and quarantine was definitely mostly lifting.”
Williams also can see “a confidence” with Johnson right now.
“Typically, most rookies need that first summer to process all of the information, how to eat, travel, all of that stuff,” Williams said. “These four months away from it all, I think has been an offseason for him.”
Johnson confirmed he focused on eating better along with taking care of his body.
“Focusing on eating more protein and all that,” Johnson said.
Beyond that, the slender forward looking to become wiry strong has displayed a competitive endurance Williams likes to see.
“He understands the workload,” Williams said. “(Johnson and Dario Saric), no matter how hard we go, after every practice, they go get their shooting in. They get their 1-on-1 play in and he’s just got a confidence about him that’s a bit different. Not afraid to show his emotions. He just looks like a guy that’s going to step right in any role we put him in and he’s going to be fine.”
As for Jerome, the combo guard said he worked out with college teammate and fellow NBA rookie, De’Andre Hunter of the Atlanta Hawks, in a gym in Virginia two weeks after the initial games were cancelled during the break.
“We just competed pretty much every day,” Jerome said. “We met our trainer down there. Played 1-on-1 six days a week. Shot, lifted six days a week.”
Both first-round picks, Jerome and Hunter helped the Virginia Cavaliers win the 2019 national title.
“We just got after it, but having a guy like that to compete against, it elevates your game to another level,” Jerome continued. “Seeing a guy like that, a big-time defender and a great offensive player, playing with him every day, it definitely helped my game.”
Williams has noticed the work Jerome has been doing to improve.
“He’s been in the gym working on his body,” Williams said. “That’s something that he knows he has to improve. Speed of the game. Physicality of the game. A lot of guards try to pressure him a lot last year in the backcourt. I know that’s something that’s been on his mind. Working on his body, his conditioning and his speed so that he can initiate offense and get better, but he’s looked good.”
To help that progression, Jerome said he’s watching not only games from this season, but old Suns games featuring a certain two-time NBA MVP.
“Watching old Steve Nash basketball games,” Jerome said.
This is just the latest of what has been a crazy first year for the two rookies who were once ACC rivals at Virginia and North Carolina.
Jerome and Johnson came into the league via draft day trades that also brought Aron Baynes and Saric to the Suns.
The Suns chose not to play Johnson and Jerome in last year’s Summer League in Las Vegas because those trades didn’t become official until after the summer league and they weren’t able to practice with the summer league squad.
Johnson found himself starting early in training camp because Kelly Oubre Jr. and Mikal Bridges were out with injuries.
They each battled injuries and setbacks.
Jerome missed Phoenix’s first 17 games with an ankle injury. He missed another three with left ankle soreness in February.
Johnson sat 16 games with 10 due to a right quad contusion.
In between all that, Johnson and Jerome had bright moments.
Johnson scored a career-high 21 points on his 24th birthday against defending NBA champion Toronto in a game he hit five 3s, another career high.
He shot 39.7% from 3 – and dunked on Los Angeles Lakers center JaVale McGee.
Johnson played more minutes and made a bigger first-year impact than Jerome, who spent time in the G League, but Jerome had his moments as well.
Picking up the offense and showing leadership skills right away, Jerome played a key role in Phoenix’s crazy comeback win at Charlotte in his rookie debut. He scored a career-high 15 against Houston and dished out a career-high seven assists at Orlando.
In an normal NBA season, Johnson and Jerome would no longer be rookies and they’d probably be finishing up summer league in Vegas.
However, nothing has been normal since COVID-19 imploded in the U.S.
What has happened since has somehow led to this unprecedented season resumption, thus giving Johnson and Jerome another chance to make a difference in their extended rookie year.