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The Daily Wildcat

 

Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson NBA profiles

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Tyler Baker

Tyler Baker/ The Daily Wildcat

Arizona freshman forward Aaron Gordon shoots a one handed alley-oop after receiving a pass from Arizona sophomore guard Gabe York during the second half of Arizona’s 70-64 victory against SDSU at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Cali. on Thursday. Arizona advances to play Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight on Saturday.

Now that Arizona’s Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson have announced their NBA decisions, speculations about how they will fare at the NBA level will likely begin to blossom.

Will Gordon develop into another Blake Griffin type of player, or will a team that struggles to develop draft him and turn him into a bust?

As for Johnson, he’s got a more difficult challenge. The 6-foot-3 guard is thought to be too undersized to play at the shooting guard position in the NBA, but hasn’t developed enough point guard skills to risk picking.

However, lucky for Johnson, he was blessed with elite athleticism — even by college basketball standards. That, combined with a defensive mindset and knowledge of the game, gives Wildcats head coach Sean Miller reason to believe that Johnson can succeed at the next level. Here’s a breakdown of Gordon and Johnson and the NBA:

Aaron Gordon
Height: 6-foot-9
Weight: 225 pounds
Draft stock: Top 10
Projected NBA position: PF
Upside: Athletic, rebounder, passer and defender
Downside: Offensive limitation as a scorer
Good fit: Los Angeles Lakers
Bad fit: Boston Celtics
NBA comparison: Antawn Jamison

Nick Johnson
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 200 pounds
Draft stock: Second Round
Projected NBA position: PG/SG
Upside: Defense and athleticism
Downside: Lack of size
Good fit: Chicago Bulls
Bad fit: Phoenix Suns
NBA comparison: Iman Shumpert

—Follow Luke Della @LukeDella

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