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2015 NBA Summer League: Stanley Johnson and Justise Winslow Will Be the Best Rivalry of the 2015 NBA Draft

By James Fitzgerald

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When the 2015 NBA Draft took place, all the talk was about how Kentucky center Karl-Anthony Towns and Duke Center Jahlil Okafor were going to be the two titans that everyone needed to follow for the foreseeable future.

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That draft pairing was supposed to be an artificial rivalry similar to when LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony were drafted in 2003.

Just the same way Carmelo and Lebron are connected at the hip in draft lore, the same will always be said for Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns.

But the 2015 NBA Draft yielded another artificial rivalry that is being slightly downplayed, but it was on display at the NBA’s Orlando Summer League.

The Stanley Johnson and Justise Winslow matchup is going to be something to see for years to come.

Stanley Johnson was taken out of the University of Arizona with the No.8 pick of the draft by the Detroit Pistons with Duke’s Justise Winslow being selected two picks later with the No.10 pick by the Miami Heat.

When their respective Orlando Summer League teams met it was truly the future of the NBA on display.

Both players played well with Stanley Johnson scoring 14 points on 4 of 5 shooting from the field to go along with seven  rebounds, and Justise Winslow dropped 17 points on the stat sheet.

Though Winslow shot 5 of 15 from the field, he was the primary ball-handler in the game and was able to get to the rim at will, drawing fouls along the way.

Winslow shot 10 free throws in the contest hitting seven of them and no one really could defend him on the perimeter.

(Photo: Jamie Rhodes, USA TODAY Sports)

To this point, Winslow is averaging 11.5 points on 34.3% shooting from the field. But he has shown that he is capable of becoming one of the better two-way players in this draft as his development continues.

Once he gets the touch on his mid-range game down, he is going to be a force cause he is showing already that he can get to whatever spot he wants on the court.

His 5 of 15 shooting performance was a byproduct of him not being able to knockdown his mid-range attempts.

Stanley Johnson has easily been one of, if not the best player in the Orlando Summer League to this point.

Johnson is averaging 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 27.8 minutes of play while shooting a whopping 64.3% from the  field.

Johnson has used his strength to his advantage, and being able to handle physical contact is going to serve him well.

He is strong around the rim at 6-foot-6, and when you add his leaping ability to the equation, he definitely is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

The thing that Stanley Johnson is going to need to work on is the release of his jump shot. He needs to have his flick of the wrist a tad bit higher on his release.

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    • Right now it looks like he is releasing his shot about chin high. Johnson gets his shot off, but he needs to release it way higher.

    Both of these players have done well with their shot selection in the Orlando Summer League also.

    They will more than likely open up their games as the summer progresses, but they have both played within themselves and have not forced anything.

    While everyone was talking about the Towns vs. Okafor matchup that we will be watching for the foreseeable future, the Stanley Johnson vs Justise Winslow matchup can be just as intriguing as we watch their careers develop.

    They have not disappointed thus far this summer, and chances are they are not going to disappoint when the season hits this fall.

    We should be watching this matchup in the Eastern Conference for years to come.

    Next: Jonathan Issac Commits to Florida State

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