Phoenix Suns Officially Welcome Wesley Johnson

We all know about the trade and we've read all about what Wesley Johnson has (or hasn't) done and his potential. Yesterday at noon the whole situation was made official as the Phoenix Suns held yet another press conference to welcome a new face to the Valley. First it was Goran, then Beasley, Scola, Brown came back and now Wesley Johnson is happy to be back in the heat (He's from Texas) and excited for an opportunity to start anew.

The press conference was short and to the point and lasted all of about 12 minutes. Babby introduced Johnson as a great addition to the team because of his athleticism but spent some time also talking about his his character and how instead of meeting Babby for dinner upon arrival in Phoenix Monday night, he instead elected to go on a date with his (wife? Girlfriend? Baby's momma?) since they haven't been able to spend too much time together alone since the birth of their twins (Santana & Wesley) a few months ago.

Blanks took the mic and echoed Babby's thoughts and mentioned how since this transaction the Suns have stopped receiving calls from agents about beefing up their wing position.

Blanks also dropped a bit of insight as he mentioned that Wes played as a big in the front-court in high school and that he was still learning and developing as a perimeter player with regards to ball-handling and shooting. Take that for what it's worth since Johnson is now 5+ years removed from his high school playing days.

When Johnson spoke he explained that he was very excited, "When I first heard I was a Phoenix Sun, it put a huge smile on my face - bigger than what it is right now". Watching him sit there you can tell that he was truly overjoyed to be in a new place, with a new team and with a clean slate.

The floor was opened for questions and Bob Young of the Arizona Republic brought the point up that Johnson was a 'late bloomer' in college and really did well when he transferred schools from Iowa St. to Syracuse. He asked if Johnson felt like this was a similar situation. Johnson replied very quickly in agreement and said in college he felt like he was in a place that wasn't really a good fit until he went to Syracuse and felt like he was in "paradise". He also mentioned how he talks a lot with his family and his brother even brought that point up to him saying, "It's like history is rewriting it's self", Johnson then said - "I plan on having that success here".

When asked about why he feels he's a good fit in Phoenix, again without hesitation Wes gushed, "The syle of play it fits me well". I think it's every athletic player's dream to play in a Phoenix Suns style offense where the pace is up and down, fast, free flowing and where unselfishness is really a reality. I wouldn't have expected Johnson to answer the question any other way.

There were some other questions about how athletic he thought he was and what he likes most about Phoenix but nothing else of much importance. You can head over to the Suns website and catch video of the conference if you like.

His athleticism really is something I look forward to watching though. I read your comments about how much of a bust he is and how he's the worstever.com and how only his smile is good but I don't buy into that at all. Sometimes the statistics don't show the whole story.

It seems almost cliche now to compare any bad or under-performing player with potential who comes to Phoenix to Channing Frye and how his situation worked out coming from Portland (look at his stats.. prior then post arrival). Doing so makes a lot of people roll their eyes. Yet Channing Frye had the build and and the potential and that's something that both Wesley Johnson and Michael Beasley have coming to Phoenix this year. We're talking about top 5 picks in the draft. Top 5 scouted because of their talent and potential.

Don't be so quick to numb your emotions and invest nothing in the possibilities that both Johnson and Beasley could do special things here in Phoenix.

Wesley Johnson even knows what it means to be a Phoenix, he said about his opportunities playing in the Suns' sytem and with his new teammates,

"It's like a rebirth, a new beginning for me"