Can Nick Johnson successfully transition to point guard?

The point guard position is widely considered the most difficult to learn and perfect. Most point guards have been playing that position their entire basketball careers leading up to the NBA, and even those players struggle with the transition in varying degrees.

Nick Johnson has been a 6-foot-3 shooting guard with an inadequate outside jumper his entire career, and now at the elder age of 23, he’s looking to make the switch to the lead guard role. Johnson came out of the University of Arizona as a decorated player, an explosive talent attacking the rim, and a stout defender. The Rockets selected Johnson 42nd overall in the 2014 draft, but just two years later he’s currently looking for work.

Almost a year ago to the date, Johnson was traded to Denver as part of the deal that netted the Rockets Ty Lawson, and just a couple months later the Nuggets waived him. He went unclaimed and didn’t latch on with any other teams so he took the D-League route and was ultimately claimed off waivers by the Austin Spurs.

Johnson played 34 games with Austin finishing the season with averages of 10.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.4 turnovers per game. He shot less than 40 percent from the field and less than 33 percent from 3-point range as well.

Nick Johnson wasn’t healthy. It was clear when watching him that he came back too soon from a knee injury that sidelined him and anyone who has become accustomed to Johnson’s extreme athleticism knew he wasn’t right. He finished the season shooting 46.8 percent in the restricted area (league average was 62.6 percent) and finished the year with four dunks; just four.

Still, at just 23-years-old Johnson isn’t close to done and he may have given teams a glimpse into the type of player he wants to be while playing at the Orlando Summer League earlier this month. Johnson ran the point guard position for Orlando notching 14.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 2.6 steals and 3.4 turnovers. While the turnovers are still worrisome, he did lead the OSL in assists per game and showed off some skill as far as running a team.

After a July 4th loss, Johnson spoke to the media about his transition to point guard and his injury last season as well. When asked about trying to show he can play the point guard position he responded with, “Yeah, definitely. I mean it’s been my goal for the last year or so to show I can play that more consistently. Everybody knows I’m an athlete, stuff like that, so just trying to run the team a little bit.”

Shortly after that, he was asked about chasing the NBA dream and his time in the D-League as well. Johnson said, “It’s (the D-League) been a tremendous help. Last year I had the injury and I’ve been really rehabbing that for the last year. I didn’t rehab it properly the first time so, I had to take a different road.”

Playing through injury is a feat that all professional athletes know about, however playing through injuries from an NBA roster is vastly different that playing through injuries to try and make an NBA roster. Johnson tried it last season and it didn’t work in his favor, but it shows he’s a fighter and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to continue his NBA dream.

The question now becomes, can Nick Johnson make the transition from shooting guard to point guard as he tried to scratch and claw his way onto an NBA roster?

Zach Oliver of Orlando Pinstriped Post was in Orlando and watched the team firsthand. He left the OSL with these thoughts in regards to Johnson.

"One of the best athletes in Orlando this past week, Johnson showed off some of the skills that made him one of the most dangerous players in college basketball while at Arizona. Trying to showcase his ability to play the point guard position, Johnson had his ups and downs throughout the week — he averaged nearly four turnovers per game to go along with his 7.4 assists.Johnson is in a tough position. Despite having some flashes of brilliance, he’s still stuck between playing point guard and shooting guard because of his size, and his skill set is currently more skewed towards shooting guard than point. He’s still young, and could develop his point guard skills, but until then, despite his strong play all week for Magic Blue, he’s likely going to struggle to find his way onto an NBA roster."

Johnson is still an electrifying guard who can change the intensity of a game in an instant. However, last season was really a lost one for him so it will be interesting to see the route he takes for the 2016/17 season. His game is really better suited for the NBA style as he’s a slasher who can really attack the rim, but getting an NBA deal at the start of the year isn’t likely in the cards at this point.

He needs to develop a better jump shot overall, improve his jump shot consistency off the dribble (25 of his 30 3-point makes last year were assisted), get back to finishing at the rim, learn how to really handle the ball in the pick-and-roll, and take care of the basketball and learn to value each and every possession.

The NBA D-League is not the second best league in the world, however for players like Johnson who have the skill set to ultimately play in the NBA, it’s the best league to mirror the schemes, lingo and style players will eventually face in The Association.

Johnson’s first go round with Austin didn’t go as planned, but if he returned to play in the Spurs’ organization — and they let him run the point guard spot — it could lead to the reward he’s looking for and that’s another shot with the big boys.