Flau'jae Johnson scouting report: Breaking down LSU star and 2026 WNBA Draft prospect's scoring repertoire

Flau'jae Johnson would have been a lottery pick last year if she had left school early and declared for the 2025 WNBA Draft, but she decided to return to LSU for her senior season to work on her game and make a run at another national championship. 

"I feel like that national championship I have, yeah, I was a big factor in it, but there were bigger factors," Johnson, who was a freshman when the Tigers won it all in 2023, said last year. "I want my own one, you know what I'm saying? Where I lead the team. That's what you really want."

After a 14-0 start, LSU faltered with back-to-back losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt, with Johnson going scoreless and getting benched in the latter. Since then, however, the Tigers have bounced back with three consecutive wins to improve to 17-2 and climb back up to No. 6 in the country. Most recently, they've defeated then-No. 2 Texas and No. 13 Oklahoma. Johnson had one of her best performances of the season in Norman, finishing with 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. 

Johnson got off to an excellent start this season, but has been inconsistent since conference play began. Due to the arrival of MiLaysia Fulwiley and a highly-touted recruiting class, her numbers are down from last season, when she was an AP Third Team All-American. Through 19 games, Johnson is averaging 14.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals in 24.8 minutes -- a career low. She is having her most efficient season, however, boasting 50.7/46/75 shooting splits and a 59.2% true shooting percentage. 

What does all of this mean for Johnson's draft prospects? In a recent interview with CBS Sports' Isabel Gonzalez, Johnson said that she's trying to block out the noise and avoid the draft boards so she can focus on her own development. 

"I want to be a way better player than when I started," she said. "A way better mental space. For me it's about that mental preparation. I really want to be at the peak of my mental and physical condition. I gotta go into a whole nother season into the W. That's really been something that I've been thinking about and working on."

How Flau'jae Johnson's daily film study and self-belief are fueling the LSU star's most rewarding season yet

Isabel Gonzalez

The 5-foot-10 Johnson, who is widely regarded as one of the best guards in this class, may be trying to avoid any draft talk, but no one else is. With just under three months until the 2026 WNBA Draft, which is set for April 13, let's take an in-depth look at Johnson's scoring ability in the latest edition of CBS Sports' WNBA Draft Prospect Stock Watch. 

Breaking down Johnson's scoring repertoire

Johnson is best known for her scoring ability. She is a true three-level scorer who can create her own shot off the dribble and is also comfortable playing without the ball. Here's a look at Johnson's shot chart this season. She's shooting a career-high 46% from 3-point range, a highly-efficient 49.2% from the mid-range and 64.6% at the rim. However, she's making just 34.4% of her non-rim paint attempts. 

Now let's take a look at where she's taking her shots. She has a very balanced approach, with an almost identical percentage of shots from 3-point range (28.8%), the mid-range (26.9%) and at the rim (29.7%). And while her non-rim paint attempts haven't been super efficient, she's only taking 14.6% of her attempts there. 

Let's take a closer look at Johnson's approach at all three levels. We'll start closest to the basket and work our way out. 

Rim attack

Johnson's rim attack is not bad, but it is currently the least effective aspect of her scoring repertoire -- at least in the halfcourt. She finishes 71.9% of her self-created transition rim attempts (23 of 32) compared to just 48% of her self-created halfcourt rim attempts (12 of 25), per Synergy Sports. 

While she's able to get to the rim well enough, her finishing leaves something to be desired. Here's how Johnson's rim frequency -- percentage of field goal attempts at the rim -- compares to some of the top guard and wing prospects since 2020. Johnson ranks seventh out of 16 prospects in terms of rim frequency, but 13th in rim efficiency, per CBB Analytics. 

One issue for Johnson, which jumps out on film, is that she almost never uses her left hand. Of her 79 attempts at the rim -- self-created and assisted -- she's finished with her left hand just once. She'll do everything in her power to get back to her right hand no matter which side of the rim she's on, which can often create more difficult attempts. 

As fellow draft analyst Hunter Cruse points out, however, being strong-hand dominant is not unique to Johnson. For comparison, Caitlin Clark didn't attempt a single left-hand layup in the WNBA last season, while Paige Bueckers only tried six. 

Another concern for Johnson is that her free-throw rate has declined every season, down to a career-worst 20.1% this season. Getting to the line for easy points is important if you want to be a consistently great scorer at the next level. Right now, Johnson doesn't do so frequently enough, in part because she often tries to avoid contact. She has five games without a free throw this season and has had two or fewer free throws in 13 out of 19 games. 

Johnson also struggles at times with her decision making on drives. She can be too insistent on getting all the way to the basket no matter how much traffic is in her way. As we see here against Oklahoma and Texas, she would have been better served opting for a pull-up jumper or floater rather than going straight at defenders who were already waiting under the rim. Notably, she's only taken five runners this season, per Synergy Sports. 

On the flip side, the paint congestion Johnson deals with in the SEC will not be an issue in the WNBA. LSU has the second-lowest 3-point rate (19.4%) in the country, and there's no defensive 3-second rule in college, so opponents are able to park their bigs under the rim. 

Johnson is an excellent athlete who excels in space, which she'll have much more of in the pros. Her ability to get by her initial defender in the halfcourt and run the floor in transition -- her 77 transition points are tied for 21st-most in the country this season, per CBB Analytics -- will earn her plenty of rim opportunities at the next level. 

It's very possible she becomes a more efficient finisher in the WNBA, especially if her decision making improves. 

Mid-range game

Johnson is an elite mid-range scorer. She's shooting 49.2% on 3.1 attempts per game, which is far better than any of the other top guard prospects in this year's class. 

Even if you compare Johnson to professionals, she stands out. Last WNBA season, there were only six players who took at least three mid-range attempts per game; none of them shot higher than 45.2%. 

In fact, in the last five WNBA seasons, there are only four instances of a player taking at least three mid-range shots per game and making a higher percentage than Johnson is making this season: Napheesa Collier in 2024, A'ja Wilson in 2023, Chelsea Gray in 2022 and Elena Delle Donne in 2021. Not bad company. 

Being able to create your own shot off the dribble is an extremely valuable skill, one Johnson is adept at. There are six prospects in this year's class who have taken at least 50 off-the-dribble 2s. Johnson has been the most efficient. 

Johnson's ability to get to her off-the-dribble game out of any situation -- attacking close outs, isolation, pick-and-roll, transition -- is impressive. 

It's a particular treat to watch her break out the "Penny."

"That's one of the moves that I train so much that I didn't even know I was doing it, for real. We do so many variations of the Penny Hardaway stepback. You go down baseline and you spin. And off the read, based on what she is doing... based on how she reacts to it, boom, boom, it's kind of like a feel. The play is for me to go baseline and rip. She kind of cut me off, so I'm going to use her momentum against her," Johnson told CBS Sports about the one she hit against Georgia. 

She's best going to her right, and has been most efficient on the right baseline, though she most frequently shoots her pull-ups from the middle of the floor. Here are her 56 off-the-dribble 2s broken down in various ways. 

Direction:

Area of floor:

Dribbles:

Johnson's comfort in the mid-range, particularly off-the-dribble, is a major plus for her draft prospects. 

3-point shooting

Johnson has never shot worse than 33% from 3-point range in her collegiate career, and has been over 38% in each of the last three seasons. This time around, she's making a career-high 46% on 3.3 attempts per game. While you wouldn't categorize her as a high-volume shooter, well over three attempts per game is not an insignificant amount. There are only 28 players in Division I this season taking at least three 3s per game and shooting 45% or better. 

Here's how Johnson compares to some of the other top perimeter prospects in this year's class. 

Interestingly, Johnson has been slightly more efficient on off-the-dribble attempts than on catch-and-shoot attempts. That is unlikely to continue, but Johnson's willingness to take off-the-dribble 3s is an important aspect of her skillset because it prevents opponents from sagging into the paint when she has a live dribble, which in turns opens up her driving game. 

Johnson is not a movement shooter, and the vast majority of her catch-and-shoot 3s come from spot-ups. There is nothing wrong with that, though, especially when she's so good at attacking closeouts. Her ability to play off the ball and space the floor will be extremely important at the next level and help her fit in wherever she goes. 

It's also worth noting that Johnson is comfortable all over the floor. She is shooting 40% on above-the-break 3s and a stunning 56.5% on corner 3s.