Draft Profile: Dakari Johnson

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By Taylor C. Snow

Due to the abundance of talent in Kentucky’s frontcourt this past season, it was difficult for Dakari Johnson to make much of a name for himself. However, he did hit the spotlight in high school when he won the National High School Invitational title with Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) and earned championship MVP honors.

Dakari Johnson would have played 25-30 minutes per game this season for the majority of collegiate basketball teams. Instead, he played only 16.3 minutes per game for the Kentucky Wildcats due to their wealth of talent. Johnson was an impact player while he was on the floor. He’s a huge body, a borderline 7-footer in sneakers who weighed in at nearly 265 pounds at the Combine. Johnson is active and he plays hard at both ends, though is game is not very diverse. Offensively, he’s a pure post center. He’s active and does the necessary work to gain solid post position. He’s not afraid to bang on the block. When he gets the ball in the post, he showcases very solid footwork. He’s got solid touch around the basket with both hands when he gets a shot off. However, getting to that point is the issue. Johnson is a turnover machine who also lacks leaping ability. He needs to use his body and great moves to create space and make up for his lack of verticality. That’s a major red flag heading into the NBA, because he’ll be facing off against defenders who can handle his size and post moves. Johnson is comfortable operating on both blocks, which is a plus. He also has a jumper that I think can develop some consistency from 10-15 feet. He runs the floor well for his size and has the ability to set solid screens. At the defensive end, Johnson is a smart defender. He’s usually in correct position, he doesn’t over-commit, and he’s patient with his block attempts. He showcases solid mobility for his size, allowing him to keep up with more perimeter-oriented bigs. Johnson is a good rebounder but, again, lacks leaping ability to overcome players who are his size. In many ways, he reminds me of Kendrick Perkins when it comes to athleticism, body type and turnover tendencies. Johnson, however, has much more potential in the post. One major concern with Johnson is his body; he measured out with the highest body fat at the Combine, at 14.9 percent.

By Taylor C. Snow

Johnson was born on Sept. 22, 1995 in Brooklyn, N.Y. to Makini Campbell and Thomas Johnson. The 7-foot forward comes from a line of towering Division I basketball players: his 6-10 father played at St. Francis, and his 6-5 mother and 6-8 grandfather, Jitu Weusi, played at Long Island University. Johnson moved to Kentucky when he was 11, and by the time he entered high school, he stood 6-9, 240 pounds. He attended Montverde Academy for one year and played alongside projected 2015 Draft lottery pick D’Angelo Russell and Ben Simmons, who is currently the top-ranked 2015 recruit on the ESPN 100. Johnson, who was ranked No. 7 on the 2013 ESPN 100, averaged 17.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game during his senior season. Montverde won the National High School Invitational championship that year, and their star big man was named the MVP, after racking up 18 points and eight rebounds. In his freshman season at Kentucky, Johnson started 18 games, though only averaged 5.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 14.1 minutes of play per game. He saw his minutes take a slight jump this past season (16.3), though did not start a single game, as he fought for playing time in the talented Wildcat frontcourt, consisting of Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein and Trey Lyles. He averaged 6.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game; per 40 minutes, that translates to 14.7 points and 11.2 boards. Johnson and six other Kentucky players declared for the NBA Draft on April 9.