NBA Draft: 25 lottery picks who should have been better pros

To be completely honest, I’m pretty surprised Wesley Johnson was once a highly touted top-five draft prospect.

Johnson was drafted No. 4 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves after spending three years in college basketball, two with the Iowa State Cyclones and his final season with the Syracuse Orange.

Johnson’s one season at Syracuse was pretty good, as he led the Orange with 16 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. The Big East Player of the Year and a First-Team All-American, Johnson’s stock experienced a meteoric rise in his one season with Syracuse.

For a little while, it seemed as if that momentum that Johnson had built with his final season in college was carrying over to the NBA, as Johnson came out of the gate somewhat meeting the expectations. In his rookie year, Johnson averaged nearly nine points and three rebounds per game, amazingly good enough to be named to the  All-Rookie Second Team.

That would be the ceiling for Johnson, who would never average more than 10 points, four rebounds, and two assists per game.

The worst part of his statistics is that he had every opportunity to put up bigger numbers. Johnson made over 60 starts in three of his first four seasons and averaged around 25 minutes per game in those starts.

One word that sums up Johnson’s NBA career is ineffective. Despite playing big minutes on bad teams where touches and opportunities on offense should be endless, Johnson was never meant to be the key cog on offense that he once was in college.

Johnson is now a back-end role player, finishing the 2018-19 season on the Washington Wizards, his sixth team in nine NBA seasons.