Auburn basketball Player Preview Series: KD Johnson

Can the Auburn guard take a step forward this season?

Former Georgia transfer and now returning for his Junior season for the Auburn tigers, KD Johnson looks toward his second season with the tigers and will continue to improve his role on the court. 

Johnson averaged 13.5 points in just 16 games as a freshman at Georgia then transferred to Auburn where he assumed that strong shooting guard role for the tigers and averaged 12.3 points on 38.6% shooting from the field. Johnson very easily has the talent and role to improve on those number and be one of the top players for Auburn in 2022-2023.

Biggest Strength: Defense/Energy

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Johnson is one of the better on-ball and off-ball defensive guards in the SEC a lot like his backcourt teammate Zep Jasper. Johnson has a true gift when it comes to taking the ball away and turning the other team over, he averaged 1.9 steals a game last year and had a combined 14 steals in the three games played in the preseason tournament, Battle for Atlantis.

But with all this said, Johnson is very talented in turning his success on defense into offensive success. Especially early in the year, Johnson was shooting the ball from three at a very good percentage, he ended up shooting 29.0% on the year but was still good from the three.

Johnson is a very good driver. He always looks like he is well out of control and doesn’t seem like he knows where he is on the court when he attacks the rim but he does. He knows how to control his 6- foot frame even over much taller defenders and get a bucket.

A lot like what I said in the Dylan Cardwell preview, Johnson’s energy and craziness on the court is something that you can't teach or coach. He provides great comradery and is one of those guys where if he is on your team, you love him and if he isn't then you hate him.

What he could improve on? Consistency/Playmaking

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One of the biggest things that kept not only Johnson from his full potential of success in 2021-2022 but also the whole team was the lack of consistency. Johnson had some incredible moments this past year but we never saw is consistently and all the way through the year. 

Johnson went 1-7 in the overtime loss at Arkansas, and he went 0-14 in the SEC tournament loss to Texas A&M. And those games were just easy clues to Johnson’s importance on last year's team. If Johnson can retain some consistency in his offensive game and his outside shot, he could be even more lethal and dominate next season.

Outside of being more consistent in his offensive game, I think if Johnson became more of a facilitator at the two-guard spot, it would open up more opportunities for himself to score. Johnson only averaged 1.6 assists last year but had seven assists in the first round NCAA tournament game against Jacksonville State. I think if we see his assists numbers improve, then we will see him improve his scoring opportunities as well.

Best moment from 2021: vs UCONN (Battle for Atlantis)

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Johnson had some incredible and very memorable moments in his sophomore season for the tigers. Including where he went for 12 points in just overtime at Mississippi State and scoring 17 against Kentucky or getting the game winner at Missouri. But I think Johnson’s best moment or game came in

the Battle for Atlantis in the first loss of the season against UConn. Johnson scored a career high 27 points and had 5 steals and one of the more clutch shots of the year to send it into second overtime.

Expectations for 2022: Starter/Star

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As a Junior and a returning starter at the shooting guard spot, Johnson will have a very important role on the team next year. He will be asked to guard team's top players a lot like Allen Flanigan and Zep Jasper, but he will also be relied on to score the ball and shoot well from the outside.

Auburn’s backcourt will be deeper this year than it was last year which will help take some of the load off of Johnson but he should be one of Auburn’s top players and scorers in 2022-2023.

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