The Brooklyn Nets will promote BJ Johnson to assistant general manager, the NBA team announced Wednesday. Johnson first joined the Nets in 2016 shortly after the arrival of general manager Sean Marks.
He previously served as the Coordinator of Player Development before being promoted to the position of Executive Director of College Scouting and Player Evaluation.
BJ Johnson spent 11 years with USA Basketball before joining the Brooklyn Nets
Additionally, Johnson spent 11 years with USA Basketball, including seven years as an assistant director of the men's national team. He has worked with all levels of USA Basketball men's teams.
He was very focused on developing the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team program.
Per Johnson's background, he attended Villanova University, where he was a member of the men's basketball team. He graduated in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in computer science and a minor in Chinese.
BJ Johnson has been promoted to the position of deputy general manager.
Additional front office additions and upgrades → pic.twitter.com/Z352fP8HpN
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 4, 2024
In April, Marks suggested Johnson could be considered for a promotion following the departure of assistant GM Jeff Peterson and executive director of basketball and business operations Ryan Gisriel for jobs with the Charlotte Hornets.
Peterson had been the Nets' assistant general manager since 2019, while Gisriel had worked in a number of front office positions since arriving as an intern in 2013-14.
“I think some of our guys did a great job,” Marks said earlier this season. “As far as writing, I mean he wants to take BJ Johnson.
“BJ runs our draft and has done this for the past few years. So, there will be more pressure and more responsibility on a few guys in the house here. “
Johnson is widely credited with persuading Brooklyn's front office to draft Nic Claxton and Jalen Wilson.
According to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, in his new role, Johnson will lead and oversee all of the Nets' scouting efforts. The native of Greensboro, North Carolina, will work under Marks and assistant GM Andy Birdsong.
Johnson is widely credited with convincing the Nets to draft players like Nic Claxton (2019) and Jalen Wilson (2023) in the second round of their draft.
“It's great to get a guy in college, and I give our draft process a lot,” Marks said recently. “BJ Johnson has done that a few years ago. [He] We did a great job in scouting and finding Nic and being able to write Nic where we did.”
Brooklyn's front office has already made a series of additions and promotions within their basketball operations department this offseason. Two other in-house moves come to mind for the Nets.
Makar Gevorkian has been promoted to vice president of basketball operations alignment and strategic planning. Glenn DuPaul has been promoted to vice president of basketball analytics.
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