As anArmon Johnsonfan, I was at first excited to see him assigned to Blazers Developmental League affiliate the Idaho Stampede. It was widely felt that he hadn't quite made the jump to NBA caliber play, and specifically suffered from a high TO%. Myself and others believed that a little stint in the DL would chill the kid out and remind him that while the force may be strong in him, he is not a Jedi yet. I thought his time in Boise would alleviate the pressures of the NBA lifestyle and give him a chance to refine his passing skills, dial in his 3 pt. shot, and develop some moves with his right hand. The reality of his situation in Boise is far removed from these expectations.

It has come to my attention that Armon Johnson is playing out of position and being brought off the bench (source: blacknoiseNW in the comment section ofthis article). The Stampede are using him as their 6th man. Instead of focusing on play-making and running the point, Armon is playing 2 guard and being pressured to put points on the board. It seems as though this would encourage him to rely on the moves that he knows will keep him on the floor: spin moves going left.

As we know, Armon got scouted. Coming into the league, he was giving opposing guards fits by bodying up on defense and surprising them with quick moves to the basket from the left-hand side. The defensive intensity held true, but it was soon circulated that our man Armon was a one dimensional offensive player: shut down his left, shut down Armon. He was shooting the 3 at a great clip, but it was obvious that he wasn't confident in that part of his game and would only attempt one or two a night. This allowed defenders to sag off and prepare to defend the left-hand drive. This, combined with lazy perimeter passing, led the coaching staff to promote Patty Mills from towel-waving mascot to 2nd unit PG, and ship Armon Johnson to Boise.

So how is this stint on the Stampede helping AJ? He's not developing new weapons, he's not developing new handles, he's not developing new play-making skills--all he's developing is the Stampede's record. Sure, Armon is getting some game time minutes, but the competition is miles below what he would face in practice. I think he's being wasted out there. The Idaho coach doesn't care about his improvement as a PG, and probably has NBA aspirations of his own that are better served by a healthy win total than a constantly shifting roster. In fact, he may resent Portland for sending players down, yanking them back, then sending them down again, a la Mills.

I say, bring AJ back--not because he deserves minutes on this roster (Roy's return all but assures he won't get them), but because if he's truly going to improve as a player, it's going to be in Portland against NBA talent on the practice floor, not in Boise against scrubs for a coach that thinks he's a 6th man.