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Should Amir Johnson Play Center Or Power Forward?

By Michael Hilperts

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Ask any Celtics fan what the team’s most pressing need is, and they’ll invariably tell you it’s either star power or rim protection. Both answers are technically correct; teams need a minimum of two stars and one rim protector in order to win a championship these days. This formula holds true for every championship-winning team in the last 35 years (yes, even the minimalist 2004 Pistons).

At the start of last season, the Celtics had arguably zero stars (sorry, Rajon Rondo) and zero rim protectors.

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However, entering this season, you could argue the Celtics now have one star in Isaiah Thomas. Between his 22.3 PER, 19 PPG (in only 26 MPG!) and 2.1 win shares in just 21 games, his stats illustrate how he transformed the Celtics from lottery-bound to playoff-bound. While becoming a playoff team is the first step in ultimately becoming a title contender, the Celtics still need their rim protector (a couple more stars would help out too).

Danny Ainge tried his best to address this need over the offseason but couldn’t quite land one. There’s a finite number of rim protectors in the NBA and because of their scarcity, teams aren’t looking to trade them.

Ainge has exercised extreme discipline throughout this rebuilding era – especially regarding his stockpile of draft picks. Even though the team has finally proved playoff-worthy, Ainge is still building his team for later down the road and not the immediate future.

Ainge is therefore doing his best to answer the Celtics’ problems without mortgaging the team’s future.

The Amir Johnson acquisition exemplifies his current approach.

Ainge inked Johnson to a two-year, $24 million contract with the second year non-guaranteed. Although Johnson’s no star, he may help the Celtics in the rim-protecting department.

Amir Johnson In Toronto 

Since the Celtics’ frontcourt was already overloaded at power forward prior to free agency, Celtics fans were confused when the team announced the Amir Johnson signing. In Toronto, Coach Dwane Casey’s orthodox offensive sets forced Johnson to behave like a traditional power forward. Both him and center, Jonas Valanciunas, alternated their positions in offensive sets; one would set up in the high post with the other in the low post.

In the game below, watch how his points are from either the low-post (post-ups, second-chance points, jump-hooks), fast-breaks or pick-n’-rolls. His jump-shots are improvised and not the result of a drawn-up play.

The Raptors’ offense outright repressed Johnson’s shooting ability. Between 16 and 25 feet, Johnson hit 48% of his jump-shots. However, he only took 4.4% of his total shots from that range. Additionally, Johnson hit over 40% of his three-pointers, yet again, only took 8.9% of his shots behind-the-arc.

In Brad Stevens’ offensive system, expect far more pick-n’-pop looks for Johnson. Stevens can run the same sets with Johnson as he did last season with stretch-fours Kelly Olynyk and Jonas Jerebko (and to an extent Sullinger). The only issue is Johnson’s extremely slow release on his jump-shot. Fortunately, both Evan Turner and Isaiah Thomas are dangerous enough on drives to warrant double-coverage, which should create adequate space for Johnson to shoot threes.

While Johnson will have a positive impact on the Celtics’ offense, he’ll by no means revolutionize it. He’ll give the team another scoring option from the low-post, but he doesn’t add anything unique to the team that they don’t already have.

His impact will be much more noticeable on defense, however.

He’s a unique hybrid of the modern power forward and traditional power forward archetype, the latter of which was exemplified by 90’s bruisers, Charles Oakley and Larry Johnson. It’s because his game has these bruiser attributes that will actually make him suitable to play center in the new-age NBA. As we saw in last season’s Finals, team’s capable of playing an effective brand of small ball have an edge over teams whose personnel cannot keep up with their opponent’s faster-pace. The Celtics experimented with small ball last season, especially in late-game situations when it elevated their offense to an elite-level.

Amir Johnson Doesn’t Have To Be An Elite Shot-Blocker In Order To Be Serviceable Defending The Five

We can safely assume we’ll see a lot of Johnson’s minutes positioned at center. But is he a rim protector?

Short answer: yes and no.

Long answer: First off, Johnson, while only 6’9″, has a wingspan of 7’4″. Because of his size and strength, he’s a formidable defender against centers and power forwards alike, especially in one-on-one situations. Watch him out-muscle Kevin Garnett into forcing him to take a contested jumper:

This element of Johnson’s game can significantly help the Celtics stifle teams with dominant post-scorers like DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis.

Johnson’s great at contesting post-shots, but his stats suggest he’s still not an elite shot-blocker:

                        Season       BPG     Blocks Per-36  

2010-2011     1.2          1.7

2011-2012     1.1           1.6

2012-2013     1.4          1.7

2013-2014     1.1           1.4

2014-2015     0.8          1.1

His blocks are primarily derived from one-on-one coverage. He’s also a fast enough sprinter to occasionally get chasedown blocks. What’s stopping him from becoming an elite-shot blocker is his inability to block shots on help defense. In defense of Johnson, the role of a help defender is primarily delegated to a center, seeing as they traditionally stray the least from far the paint. And since Johnson has primarily played PF, his defensive assignments travel much farther in offensive sets than centers, thus partially excusing Johnson for his lack of help defense blocks.

If Brad Stevens decides to play Johnson at center, we can expect Johnson’s blocking stats to improve. With him playing center, he’ll remain closer to the paint and thus, help defend multiple players – whether doubling big men or blocking cutters/drivers.

What’s more important for centers to do than block shots though, is to protect the paint. Johnson is excellent at this. On post-ups, even the strongest of centers struggle to back him down.

One major advantage of having Johnson play center is that it’ll reduce the chances for offenses to exploit one major weakness of his: defending floor-stretching big men. Check out the video below and watch how Johnson struggles to keep up with Kevin Love.

This weakness originates from his lack of agility and side-to-side speed. He’s actually fast in transition, as long as he’s running straight.  It’s when he’s required to make a quick cut or stop on a dime when this weakness is exposed.

How Amir Johnson Affects The Celtics

The Celtics’ abundance of power forwards means we’re likely guaranteed to see Johnson primarily play center. But remember: Brad Stevens doesn’t see positions in the same way they’re traditionally classified. Therefore, don’t expect Johnson to behave like a typical center, especially on offense.

He’ll take far more threes next season than he’s ever taken in his career. Johnson will also have far more plays designed for him than in Toronto. Just for the sake of rounding-out the offense, Johnson will still have plenty of post-ups opportunities and other low-post oriented attacks in Boston.

Johnson’s diverse set of skills allows him to defend both centers and power forwards. This means he can play alongside any frontcourt Celtics player without creating any discernible weaknesses.

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