Wisconsin sophomore guard and projected lottery selection Johnny Davis will enter the draft and hire an agent, he told ESPN’s Malika Andrews on NBA Today on Thursday.
“After taking some time off and discussing everything with my family and coaches, I have decided to pursue a lifelong dream by declaring for the NBA draft with the intent of hiring an agent,” Davis said, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony relays.
Davis is No. 9 on ESPN’s Best Available list. He was under the radar heading into the season but moved into the spotlight with some big offensive performances. He was named Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus All-American after averaging 19.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG and 2.1 APG in 34 MPG.
One cause for pause is that the 6’5” Davis only knocked down 30.6% of his 3-point attempts. He also struggled in postseason play, shooting 27.2% in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. However, that shouldn’t prevent him from getting serious consideration as a top-10 pick. He was hampered by an ankle injury this month.
“I wasn’t 100%, but I felt confident that If I played, we still had a great chance of winning the Big Ten Conference tournament as well as advancing in the NCAA tournament,” Davis said. “I wanted to be out there with my guys to give it everything I had.”
He also showed dramatic improvement from his freshman campaign, when he averaged 7.0 PPG in 24.3 MPG as a reserve.
“Coach [Greg] Gard and my teammates believed in me and gave me the confidence and opportunity to have a much larger role than my freshman season,” Davis said.
Davis believes his game is well-suited for the next level.
“I know the pace and style of play in the NBA is different, but I think that suits my skill set extremely well,” Davis said. “My ability to get by my defender, athleticism and strength to finish at the rim, and being a three-level scorer combined with added spacing in the NBA will give me the opportunity to be successful.”
I may be by myself on this take but I’m really low on this guy.
Last year 7 points per game in 24mins, to 19 in 34mins but shooting inefficiently from three. He obviously works hard and hussles well to get his 19-8-2 but the fact he has the ball in his hands a lot and only gets 2 assists aswell isn’t a good sign. Then to top it off he preformed poorly in the postseason.
I’d have him 20th roughly on my mock draft board but it’s more than likely some team will pick him up earlier and then be bitterly disappointed.
My player companion would be Hami Diallo with less athleticism and more of a scoring threat
That comparison gives me cause for pause… Ham Diallo is hyper-athletic, very vertical; Davis is 3&D if he’s not a flash-in-the-pan.
Not a big fan either. I see him as a rotation player. Real competition brings out the best. So we’ll see how much he really wants it. The thing we can’t judge is attitude and hunger. Some players are just satisfied to be drafted. Especially in 1st rd. That’s 4 yrs guaranteed. So a lottery pick is a good place to be. I see him as a top 20 too. Ivey, Agbaji, Branham, Hardy all better imo. At SG.
Yeah at SG I’d have Ivey, Mathurin, Sharpe, Daniels, Beauchamp, Hardy all over him.
Haven’t given Agbaji or Branham much attention.
Wave a cheeseburger around for a couple minutes then you know who is hungry…everybody knows that