Wisconsin Badger fans got a somewhat sweet-and-sour update regarding former All-American Johnny Davis’ basketball future. Davis announced that he is packing his bags for Turkey, where he will play for Glint Manisa Basket. The news of him finally making his way overseas is by no means surprising, as thus far in his NBA tenure, things could not have gone much worse.
With hopes of eventually getting back to the NBA, La Crosse native Johnny Davis (@JohnnyDavis) will be headed to Turkey to play for Glint Manisa Basket this upcoming season.
— Jacob Lenzendorf WKBT (@WKBTJacob) July 28, 2026
Last season with the Wisconsin Herd he averaged 15.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 17 games. pic.twitter.com/FNDozjPC1w
Statistical Failure
The former top-10 pick saw little opportunity in his first stop with the Washington Wizards, appearing in just 112 games over his first three seasons. In those games, Davis logged just 11.4 minutes per game as well, a number that was justifiably low given the product he was putting on the court.
Davis averaged just 3.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game, doing so on putrid shooting splits of 39.7% from the field, 27.3% from three and just 56.1% from the free-throw line. For Badger fans, this version of Davis was a far cry from the one they saw in Madison, as although he had his faults as an outside shooter, Davis was stellar in nearly every other aspect.
He averaged 19.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and almost two stocks per game, all of which factored into his first-team All-American selection and Big Ten Player of the Year honors. Davis was a star the likes of which Wisconsin has arguably never seen, so seeing him crumble the way he did in the NBA was flat-out shocking.
Nothing Went Right
Even his G League numbers were relatively unimpressive given his top-10 selection in the draft, averaging 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game over a 42-game sample. His efficiency at least climbed its way back to where it once was, as his 52.2% true shooting was almost a perfect reflection of what it was during his sophomore year at Wisconsin.
With all this said, something clearly went wrong with Davis. Although there were multiple red flags in his evaluation, on no planet should the player who took over college basketball for a season have ended up as poorly as Davis did at the next level.
Many factors went into this drop-off, as the clear alteration to his shot form severely hindered what once was a solid touch. Davis’ 3-point shot not translating right away was something that almost anyone could have predicted, as even with how productive of a scorer he was, shooting was always a question.
However, free throws were always something that Davis was perfectly fine at, so seeing his numbers dip by almost 20% was a damning sign of what was to come. Obviously, part of his lack of success in the NBA fell in his own lap, as confidence lapses and a lack of adaptation clearly plagued him.
Nonetheless, it was a short-lived NBA tenure, and one that can hopefully be rekindled in the future. Whether Turkey was the right place for Davis to revitalize his career or not remains to be seen, but for now, the future does hold some optimism.
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