Wispier Johnson weighs in as second-year forward

Bulls second-year forward James Johnson might be ready for a new nickname: "The Blade."

When last season ended, Johnson vowed to drop weight and improve his quickness. When he showed up for training camp last week, it was obvious his mission was accomplished.

Johnson's torso is so slim, a blade of grass is a good comparison. The final tally is anywhere between 20 and 30 pounds lost.

"I was in here with (strength coach) Erik (Helland) at the Berto Center all summer," Johnson said. "It was really just eating breakfast, lunch and dinner and not snacking in between. Just eating the foods that are good for me and avoiding the bad snacks or whatever.

"It wasn't hard at all. I was losing the weight and still feeling as strong as I've ever been because of Coach E helping me at the Berto."

Before this story goes any farther, it's worth mentioning that Johnson wasn't the least bit fat or out of shape last year as a rookie. The former kickboxing champion and native of Cheyenne, Wyo., weighed in at a well-built 257 pounds last fall.

But in order to play small forward in the NBA, Johnson needs to stick all those guys with wispy physiques, such as Minnesota's Corey Brewer or Cleveland's Jamario Moon, in addition to stars like LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony.

"He's just a totally new player," teammate Taj Gibson said of Johnson. "He's way faster. That's the main thing. He needed to lose that weight and it's shocking the transformation. It's a good look for him."

During James' free-agent publicity parade last July, his monster dunk over Johnson in the playoffs was probably shown on the ESPN family of networks about 1,000 times. But Johnson said that particular play supplied no motivation during the summer.

"I don't really care about that," he said. "I've put a lot of people on a poster. I know what it feels like; it's not that bad. I'm going to jump every time and want everybody to know that."

The Bulls have until the end of the month to decide whether or not to pick up Johnson's third-year contract option, which is worth about $1.8 million.

At this point, the jury is clearly out on his future. It didn't help that he averaged just 8.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and shot a paltry 32.5 percent from the field at the Las Vegas summer league.

"It doesn't matter what you score in summer league," Johnson said. "That's not what I was focusing on. I focused on shutting people down, showing people that my body has changed since last year and I think I did that.

"When it comes time for the ball to roll out there, when the real games start, I think that's when everybody will see that I've been working. I'm trying to make (opponents) catch up with me. I'm not too worried about keeping up."

Last season, the word on Johnson was that he played great in practice. He knows this year he'll need to pick up the pace in games.