Bruce Pearl went out and found another piece for the 2021 roster with K.D. Johnson, an All-SEC Freshman Team selection while at Georgia last year.

The addition of Johnson bolsters the guard depth for Bruce Pearl and also adjusts the rotation slightly.

As of now, Auburn still has one scholarship open.

Point Guard

1 — Zep Jasper

2 — Wendell Green Jr.

3 — K.D. Johnson OR Desi Sills

It’s a whole new look at point guard for Auburn. Sharife Cooper, Turbo Jones and Justin Powell exited, Allen Flanigan returned to his natural position and Zep Jasper and Wendell Green Jr. entered.

The competition for the starting spot between College of Charleston transfer Zep Jasper and Eastern Kentucky transfer Wendell Green Jr. will be fierce. Both are strong options and provide a variety of skills. Jasper, an all-around strong scorer and strong defender. Green, an undersized point guard who excels at driving to the basket with superior court vision.

For now, because Jasper has three years of experience compared to Green’s one, Jasper gets the nod. Though, this feels like a situation where playing time is relatively even.

During his final season at Charleston, Jasper averaged 15.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 44% from the field and 35% from downtown. Jasper was nicknamed the “Honey Badger” at Charleston for his strong on-ball defense.

Green, in his lone season at Eastern Kentucky, averaged 15.8 points, five assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 40% from the field and 36% from deep. Green was one of only two freshmen in the country to record 400 points and 100 assists last year.

Both are solid options for Pearl.

If one were to go down or simple depth is needed on the depth chart, Georgia transfer K.D. Johnson and Arkansas transfer Desi Sills is an option to run point. Though, they’ll likely be fighting for the starting nod at shooting guard.

Shooting Guard

1 — K.D. Johnson

2 — Desi Sills

3 — Devan Cambridge

While K.D. Johnson has some point guard abilities, he’s naturally a shooting guard and that’s where he’ll sit in Bruce Pearl’s system.

After missing the start of the season, Johnson became an instant-impact player off the bench for Georgia. In his first game back, Johnson scored 21 points against Auburn.

He finished the season averaging 13.5 points per game on 42.2% shooting from the field and 38.7% from beyond the arc. Johnson is a natural scorer and should be a valuable scoring guard for Pearl.

The starting spot isn’t a given, though.

Competing for the starting spot will be Sills and Devan Cambridge. Cambridge seems likely to be playing the small forward spot, though, leaving it as a competition between Sills and Johnson.

In this case, Johnson gets the nod. But, similar to point guard, Johnson and Sills will probably get a relatively even amount of playing time.

Sills averaged 7.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game as a sixth-man at Arkansas last year, but dealt with a shoulder injury the second half of the season, limiting his abilities.

Small Forward

1 — Allen Flanigan

2 — Devan Cambridge

3 — Chris Moore

Now, into the more concrete positions. Allen Flanigan is a starter on next year’s roster, and unless Pearl goes big or small, he’s starting at the three. Flanigan turned into a big-time contributor in 2020, even when he was forced to play out of position.

Back in his natural position, Flanigan could take another step forward. Which — after raising his averages from 3.2 points to 14.3 points, 2.7 rebounds to 5.5, 0.4 assists to 2.9, 39.4% shooter to 45.5%, 14.3% from three to 33.8% and 45.9% from the line to 77.6% — he could become an All-SEC caliber player for Pearl.

Flanigan had an opportunity to potentially be a second-round pick in the 2021 draft, but returned and has a chance to solidify his spot in the first round in the 2022 draft.

Behind Flanigan is Cambridge. Consistency during Cambridge’s junior season will be the key, along with expanding his game.

During his sophomore season had nights where he shot 5-of-6 from deep against Arkansas and was blistering hot. Then, he had games against Tennessee where he shot 2-of-10 against Ole Miss and 0-of-5 from deep. He’ll need to find some consistency this year.

Later in the season once he started to get comfortable in his role, he began to expand his game as a stronger defender and someone who was able to create and attack the basket along with someone who crashed the boards. That’ll need to continue to grow.

And behind those two is Chris Moore.

The “tweener,” as Pearl called him, will continue to grow into playing a guard/wing spot compared to his spot as a forward in high school.

Moore’s freshman year numbers weren’t anything crazy — averaging 2.8 points and two rebounds per game, but against Mizzou and at other times Moore flashed an impressive skillset. Moore had a knack for being at the right place at the right time, and will be a valuable contributor off the bench this season.

Power Forward

1 — Jabari Smith

2 — Jaylin Williams

Auburn’s highest-rated signee in program history gets the starting nod at power forward, but it will have to be earned. Jaylin Williams will be entering his junior season and has a full year of starting experience to help him compete for the spot.

But Smith, who averaged 24.5 points on 50% shooting and 38% from deep, 10.8 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game at Sandy Creek High School gets the spot for now.

Smith is likely a one-and-done player as the No. 4 player in the class of 2021.

And Williams, who shifted up to center last year, returns to a spot better served for him at power forward.

Williams is someone Pearl has always thought highly of and has showcased an extremely high skillset at Auburn. Last year, he averaged 10.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. But also had strong performances like his game at Ole Miss where he dropped 24 points, with four rebounds and four assists while shooting 7-of-14 from the field and 6-of-10 from deep.

Williams, even if he appears off the bench, will be a huge contributor next year.

Center

1 — Walker Kessler

2 — Dylan Cardwell

3 — Stretch Akingbola

One of the biggest transfer portal grabs for Pearl — physically and for the team — was Walker Kessler. Unless Pearl runs with a small ball lineup with Smith or Williams at center, Kessler is the starter.

He played minimally last year at North Carolina. But, once he worked into the rotation a little more, he averaged 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks over his last 11 games while shooting 63%.

Kessler is not your traditional 7-foot-1 center, though, as he has the ability to stretch the floor and shoot from deep.

Behind him is Dylan Cardwell who played 15 minutes per game his freshman season, averaging 3.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Cardwell still has work to do as a true back-to-the-basket center, but the raw skills are there. With some progression during the offseason, Cardwell is a strong option as the backup center.

And Stretch Akingbola is a strong third center option to play eight-to-10 minutes per game and spell Kessler and Cardwell.

Akingbola is a strong shot-blocker whose offensive game is still in the works.

Pearl and teammates have mentioned multiple times how strong of a locker room presence Akingbola is and how much he provides to the team off the court.

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