With each passing day, it is looking more likely that at least one of the Los Angeles Lakers’ key guards will leave.
D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, their starting guards, as well as key reserves Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Schroder, will be free agents. It will be next to impossible for them to keep all of them on new contracts, and it isn’t even clear if they want to.
Therefore, Los Angeles may have to look to the 2023 NBA draft to replenish some of that backcourt depth. It will have the No. 17 and No. 47 picks, and it will likely also take a look at some undrafted free agents.
One player the Purple and Gold recently brought in for a workout is Logan Johnson of Saint Mary’s College of California.
A look at Johnson
At 6 feet, 2 inches and about 170 pounds, Johnson is undersized, but he has ample quickness and likes to attack the paint off the dribble. He averaged 14.5 points a game this past season for Saint Mary’s, and he made a rock solid 50.5% of his 2-point attempts.
He is also a capable passer, although he isn’t elite in that category. Still, he put up 3.6 assists a game during the 2022-23 campaign.
Johnson came on strong offensively down the stretch of this past season, and he had five games with at least 27 points in a span of six contests in February as his team made a run at the NCAA Tournament.
He has quick hands defensively, which allowed him to notch 1.6 steals a contest this past year and 2.0 steals the year prior. However, his small frame could be a problem on that end of the floor at the next level.
Johnson’s big weakness is 3-point shooting. He has never shot as high as 32% from downtown for a whole season, and his NBA prospects could hinge on whether he improves that aspect of his game.
The Northern California native will likely go undrafted.
