Seattle Storm rookie Flau'jae Johnson's shooting woes persist

Shortly after launching an errant three-point attempt from the corner that missed everything, Flau'jae Johnson checked out with 7:08 remaining in the third quarter of a closely contested game against the Connecticut Sun.

She watched the rest of Wednesday night's 80-78 loss from the bench, which was uncharacteristic of the star rookie.

"Just flow of the game," coach Sonia Raman said postgame when asked about Johnson. "Just went with a couple other players. Just trying to ignite our offense a little bit. So, that's all that was."

Maybe so, but the fourth-quarter benching marked the first punitive response to Johnson's shooting woes. She's scoring 10.8 points per game - one of eight rookies averaging double-figures.

However, Johnson ranks 40th among WNBA rookies in field-goal shooting percentage at 26.5%. She's also shooting 23.5% on three-pointers (4 of 17) and hasn't made a shot behind the arc in the past three games.

When evaluating players, Raman, a reputed basketball tactician and a first-year WNBA coach, says she isn't necessarily swayed by a particular performance and favors data from a sample of games.

Five games into the season, the Storm (1-4), who are riding a three-game losing streak, and Johnson, the No. 8 overall pick in last month's WNBA draft, appear to be at an early-season crossroads heading into Friday's 7 p.m. rematch against the Sun (1-5).

"There's going to be ups and downs, that's basketball," Johnson said during training camp last month. "I know I have a lot to learn and I'm ready for it. This league is different than college. These girls are grown women, so everything is bigger, faster and stronger. … Hopefully, that adjustment won't take too long, but then some things you can't rush.

Johnson had little difficulty scoring the past four seasons at LSU, where she averaged 14.6 points while shooting 46.7% from the field and 37.3% on three-pointers.

"I'm just taking it one day at a time, Johnson said. Taking it all in, listening to my coaches and everybody. They're telling to just be me and play my game."

Before Wednesday, Johnson led the Storm with 28.4 minutes per game. Her season-low 16-minute outing against the Sun puts a spotlight on her shot selection and lack of offensive efficiency.

In the season opener, the dynamic 5-foot-10 guard connected on 3 of 12 shots while scoring 12 points. She tallied a season-high 16 points on 3-of-10 shooting and was instrumental in an 89-82 win against the Sun last week.

After a 2-for-7 shooting display against the Toronto Tempo, Johnson was 3 of 14 on field goals for 14 points versus the Indiana Fever.

On Wednesday, Johnson thrilled the Climate Pledge Arena crowd with a couple of highlight layups, but she finished with a season-low five points on 2-for-6 shooting, including 0 for 2 on three-pointers.

Johnson was the only starter who did not appear in the fourth quarter. She was replaced by backup guard Zia Cooke and veteran reserve Lexie Brown, who played all 10 minutes in the fourth.

"She's getting some pretty good shots in different phases of the game," Raman said. "We love her in transition and her ability to just get out and be a transition player. We want her to be able to attack in the open floor, to be able to take open threes when she has them and then really trying to target her in certain actions when we're really getting into our set pieces."

Johnson and the Storm, who rank last in the WNBA in scoring (79.6 points per game) and 13th in field-goal shooting (41.1%), tend to run into problems when the opposing defense gets set.

"It's just a matter of her getting a feel for where her shots are going to come and what are the best shots she can take," Raman said. "But also … we run something and then the music stops a little bit. How do we get to that next action?

"If we're not collectively getting to that next action, then we end up taking more of a contested two, a contested pull-up (shot) or something like that. When I see some of those shots, those are a collective effort of us as a team just (needing to be) a little bit smoother and having a little bit more flow getting from like one phase of our offense to the next."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 4:49 PM.