{"id":412226,"date":"2026-01-17T04:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T04:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/412226\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T04:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T04:23:10","slug":"fifth-year-guard-looks-like-the-perfect-draft-pick-for-the-aces-but-theres-a-catch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/412226\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifth-year guard looks like the perfect draft pick for the Aces\u2014but there\u2019s a catch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6a\">Raven Johnson is steadily improving her WNBA draft stock during her final season with the South Carolina Gamecocks. Johnson is already a two-time champion, although she was injured during her team\u2019s 2022 title run, and an SEC All-Defensive Team member, but she is still adding to her game this season. She isn\u2019t only orchestrating one of the top offenses in the country as Dawn Staley\u2019s starting point guard, but she has also taken on <a href=\"https:\/\/highposthoops.com\/underrated-adjustment-could-vastly-improve-south-carolina-star-draft-stock\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">more responsibility as a scorer.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6d\">The one knock that has always somewhat limited Johnson\u2019s draft potential was that she doesn\u2019t score enough. Johnson handily dismissed that point, proving that she can score at a high level when her team needs her to. Moreover, she has highlighted how much she impacts winning, <a href=\"https:\/\/highposthoops.com\/south-carolina-quietly-tweak-versatile-guard-role-and-now-reaps-the-rewards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">leading a team<\/a> that lost MiLaysia Fulwiley, Te-Hina Paopao, Sania Feagin, Bree Hall, and Chloe Kitts to an 18-1 record.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">While Johnson may not be able to play her way into the first round of the 2026 WNBA Draft, she is definitely someone who could stick on a roster, no matter where she is drafted. She would be an incredibly fun fit in Las Vegas, but the Aces have limited draft assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Raven Johnson could learn a lot with the Aces<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\">The Aces aren\u2019t looking for a young star to develop. If a rookie makes the star-studded championship roster, they will have to be able to contribute right away. After five years under Dawn Staley, Johnson is ready to do just that. She could immediately provide strong perimeter defense and playmaking behind Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young. The Aces have so many talented scorers that Johnson would be able to do what she does best in short stints: set up the offense and bother opposing guards.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">More importantly, however, Las Vegas would be the perfect place for Johnson to learn. The team\u2019s core knows very well what it takes to win, Chelsea Gray is the best veteran point guard in the league, and Becky Hammon found plenty of success as a point guard and a coach in the W.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">The only problem is that the Aces don\u2019t have a first-round pick in the 2026 draft and don\u2019t actually get to select a player until the second-last pick in the second round. Considering how well Johnson is playing on both sides of the ball this season, she may not be available anymore at that point.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\">The Valkyries, for example, value tough defenders and could pick Johnson as a backup point guard, especially if they lose Carla Leite in the expansion draft. The Sparks also desperately need an influx of defensive talent, and Indiana could use a defensive-minded point guard to come off the bench behind Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Raven Johnson is steadily improving her WNBA draft stock during her final season with the South Carolina Gamecocks.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-412226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}