Pistons news: Stanley Johnson on learnings from first two seasons NBA

Pistons forward Stanley Johnson has been underwhelming in his first two NBA seasons, but he's entering his third year armed with valuable knowledge.

Since being selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, forward Stanley Johnson has struggled to breakthrough on the court.

In fact, Johnson is coming off a second campaign where his production took a noticeable drop averaging just 4.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in just 17.3 minutes per game. He has used the offseason to focus more keenly on improving his individual game to which he voiced more confidence that he will experience much improvement in his third year in the league, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

“When you get in the NBA, this is a monster to deal with. And everything isn’t always what it seems,” he said. “So you’ve got to have a lot of faith in yourself to survive. That’s what I’ve learned the first two years. No matter what happens, I worked really, really hard this summer. If something happens where I don’t have as good a season as I expected, I know I did the right things and I’ll use the year as a year to be better. But this year I’m confident with the opportunity I have – with the roster opened up – I’ll get a chance to show what I can do at multiple positions, like what I was drafted here to be. I think life will be a lot easier on me with this much opportunity out there. I just have to make sure I apply myself and do what I’m supposed to do to show the coaching staff I’m ready for this position.”

Although his first two years have been nothing short of a struggle for him on the court, Johnson believes it has brought him more knowledge of what to do for him to become a more effective player on both ends. Entering the league, he was viewed as being a work in progress offensively and a potential high-impact player on the defensive end.

He will have an opportunity to showcase that with a chance to jump into the starting lineup with Marcus Morris being moved to the Boston Celtics as part of the deal where the Pistons acquired Avery Bradley.

What must also be taken into consideration with Johnson is that he's just 21 years old heading into his third NBA season. He has garnered plenty of valuable experience in his first two campaigns that could pay dividends for him to make a big leap of improvement in 2017-18.