Answering the call
For a 22-year-old whowasn’t supposed to factor into the Thunder’s rotation, Dakari Johnson has shown he can contribute, in large part to his development with the Thunder’s G-League team.
Dakari Johnson's successful spot starts bred from G-League
It was a Friday morning when Dakari Johnson found out he was starting against the Clippers in prime time. The 7-footer had been ready for quite some time. His mom was another story.
As a 6-foot-4 former collegiate player at Long Island University, Makini Campbell has had a major investment in her son’s career. So, would it have hurt Johnson to text or call his mom when he found out he’d be filling in for Steven Adams against an All-NBA center?
“She found out, I guess, right before the game when the news broke,” Johnson said. “But she was blowing up my phone knowing I wasn’t going to be able to pick up or anything.
“She just told me to be vocal out there and be ready on defense.”
He was. For a 22-yearold who wasn’t supposed to factor into the Thunder’s frontcourt rotation, Johnson has shown he can contribute, in large part to his development with the Thunder’s G-League team.
Among the paragraphs of texts Johnson received from his mom Friday, the one about his pick-androll defense was a standout. Campbell knows her son’s game better than anyone, but next on the list is the Oklahoma City Blue and the Thunder staff, which had two full seasons to work with Johnson before thrusting him into the starting lineup when Adams picked up a right calf contusion.
Johnson is in his first year on the Thunder’s roster, but has been a part of the organization since 2015 when he was drafted in the second round (48th overall) out of Kentucky as a 19-year-old. Since then, he’s played 96 games with the Blue, averaging 15.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. In his second year, Johnson was the youngest player in the then-D-League All-Star Game and the youngest All-D-League First Team honoree.
Johnson credits the reshaping of his body and the improvement of his game to his Blue training ground, from head coach Mark Daigneault, to current assistants Jarell Christian and David Akinyooye, and Travon Bryant, who’s now an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets.
It’s only been three games, but Johnson has filled in nicely in Adams’ absence. His numbers aren’t eye-popping (4.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, 17.4 minutes per game), but he’s excelling at subtleties that may otherwise be botched by a young big man.
According to NBA. com/stats, Johnson has seven screen assists, or “the number of times an offensive player or team sets a screen for a teammate that directly leads to a made field goal by that teammate.” He’s fifth on the team in the category, which doesn’t seem like much until you consider he’s played less than half the minutes (61) of No. 4 on that list (Pat- rick Patterson, who has 14 screen assists in 215 minutes). He’s picked up tips from Nick Collison, who taught him how to set proper screens for Russell Westbrook on the fast break, and Johnson helped stonewall defenders en route to Paul George’s 42-point explosion against the Clippers.
“When his number’s called, he’s certainly been ready,” George said. “He’s been rebounding. He’s been defending. And he has great feel for the pick-and-roll game right now. He’s been poised down the stretch, and it’s a luxury for us to have Dakari right now.”
In the last three games, the Thunder’s defense is allowing a team-low 77.9 points per 100 possessions with Johnson on the floor. He even has a spotup jumper on his resume to help close the Clippers late.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan said Johnson’s transition was aided by the young center getting into the habit of taking advantage of the resources of the G-League team. The Blue’s training facility is outfitted with the same nutritional and health resources as the Thunder’s.
After back-to-back games, the team was off on Saturday. Donovan wanted to do some yoga after a day in his office. When he walked in, Johnson was there, too.
Fill-in starter or fringe rotation player, Johnson is prepared. He’s going to have rookie growing pains, but the work he’s put in from the day he arrived in Oklahoma City has led to competent starts and a chain of frantic text messages from his mom.
“It started in the G-League situation, working with those guys and going through that and utilizing the nutritionist here and the medical staff and him doing things on his own,” Donovan said. “So, he deserves a lot of credit, but I definitely think that his experience in the G League is a big part of it.”