There will come a time when James Johnson will likely play for the Raptors in their NBA first-round playoff series, but it will be because coach Dwane Casey knows it gives his team a strategic advantage and not because people are clamouring for the little-used forward to get on the court.
“It’s a strategic decision,” Casey said Tuesday.
Johnson has become something of a cause célèbre with the Raptors these days; fans see a powerful forward who doesn’t play an awful lot and wonder why. Coaches see someone with significant flaws in his game — over-helping on defence, freelancing and creating spacing issues on offence — and want to pick their spots to use him.