Syracuse star Wesley Johnson impresses Sixers' coach Collins in workout

Doug Collins wants doubt to creep into his conscience. As Thursday's NBA draft nears, the 76ers' new coach hopes to get cold feet.

Even though the Sixers are expected to take Ohio State's Evan Turner with the No. 2 overall pick, the team continued its string of workouts Saturday morning with Syracuse's Wes Johnson at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. The day before, Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins and Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors worked out for the 76ers.

Collins is welcoming their best shot.

"Do they make you think? Do you watch a guy work out and say, 'Wow, that was impressive,'? " Collins said. "Watching Wesley work out was like, 'Wow, that was impressive.' This young kid has got it. He's charismatic. He can play. He's respectful. He's older. Impressive."

For an hour, the 6-7 forward endured a fairly grueling workout. Coaches cycled him through a series of pick-and-roll and isolation-branded drills. Saturday was Johnson's third workout. He previously worked out for the New Jersey Nets (third overall pick) and Minnesota Timberwolves (fourth), two more realistic landing spots.

Nonetheless, Johnson believes the Sixers are genuinely interested in him.

"I think so," he said. "I think there's a good shot for me to come here."

After transferring from Iowa State and sitting out a season, Johnson led Syracuse to the Sweet 16 last season. Battling a sore back and swollen hand through most of conference play, Johnson averaged 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds and was named the Big East player of the year. A deer in the open court on fastbreaks, Johnson typically loitered beyond the arc in the halfcourt, where he made 41 percent of his treys.

In Johnson, Collins sees shades of Scottie Pippen. He fits the silhouette of the seven-time All-Star. Players this size with such athleticism are rare.

"Late developer. Long arms. Rangy," Collins, who coached Pippen with the Chicago Bulls, said in comparing the two. "Not as good of a ballhandler right now as Scottie, but he's a better shooter. He has that lanky, rangy body. He has a real good feel."

Whichever team drafts Johnson inherits a much fresher player than the one they saw through Big East play. Last season, Johnson's numbers dipped after a pair of injuries - a cover-your-eyes, head-over-heels fall against Providence that caused multiple bumps and bruises, and a severely bruised hand against Connecticut. Johnson admitted the injuries led to hesitance that didn't completely fade until the NCAA Tournament.

At his workout, capped by a flurry of coast-to-coast dunks, Johnson further proved the injuries are behind him.

"I was banged up here and there," Johnson said. "Coming back now, back to 100 percent, it feels great."

The one lingering asterisk on Johnson's resume is that he played exclusively zone defense at Syracuse, a much different world from the man-to-man he'll see in the NBA. Both Johnson and Collins deflected this criticism. For a full year, Collins pointed out, Johnson played man defense on the Orange's scout team while sitting out as a transfer.

"Most players coming out of college aren't very good defensively," Collins said. "If they are, they probably aren't very good offensively. It takes a rare guy in college to be really good on both ends of the floor."

Added Johnson: "It's more about competing than anything. Not to knock the zone. We had great success in the zone, but going back to man-to-man is something I grew up playing so I'm ready to get back to it."

Barring a trade or a drastic change of heart at the altar, the Sixers most likely will not take Johnson. Turner still seems like the leader in the clubhouse if John Wall goes to the Washington Wizards first overall, as expected. Still, as Collins said, another workout only helps the team's draft process as a whole. He vows the team will maintain a best-player-available approach Thursday and through the offseason.

Collins isn't fearful of loading up at any specific position. Not this summer, anyway.

"When you win 27 games," he said, "you do not have too much of anything."