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In the first season of James Johnson’s four-year, $60 million contract with the Miami Heat, there’s been a slight decline in his numbers. But even with a slight decline compared to last season, Johnson is still posting the second-best numbers of his eight-year career.
The stat sheet might not look as impressive as it did last season, but this season he’s been asked to play a new role. Let’s be honest, this year has been a revolving door of changes due to the amount of injuries to the Heat’s roster. Johnson’s new role hasn’t just been one role. He has been asked to wear many different hats, which hasn’t allowed him to really settle down and grow accustomed to what head coach Erik Spoelstra is asking out of him.
Don’t think that has discouraged Johnson one bit though; he’s bought in. The Heat find their identity in defense and their 6-foot-8, 240 pound forward leads the way.
The pick-and-roll might be one of the oldest and basic plays in the game of basketball. Yet, it’s still used today, and many NBA teams find much success from it. Johnson is one of the best at guarding it. Spoelstra has used his defensive specialist to guard the one through four, and even on occasions a smaller five. He’s so versatile and quick on his switches, that Spoelstra is confident his forward can win the matchup.
On the offensive end is where we see his numbers making that slight decline compared to last season. Is it because he can’t continue to produce like he did last season? No, it’s because he hasn’t been asked to be the scorer. His primary job is to reverse the ball to the opposite side of the court. Once he reverses the ball, Johnson is there for the screen that sets up the whole play. A lot of times he is the reason the ball made that movement to the other side of the court, without even touching the ball.
The majority of the time when Johnson gets the ball, it’s not for him to score. It’s for him to swing the ball and help space the floor for the offense to do its work.
Johnson’s numbers might not be where they were last season, but he’s making adjustments and still producing for this team in ways that are not shown as much on the stat sheet.