It’s been a long road for James Johnson, but he may have finally found a forever home with the Miami Heat.
It’s been a long journey in the NBA for James Johnson. The first round pick (No. 16 overall) in the 2009 draft has spent time with five teams in his eight years in the league. But now he might have found his home on a new four-year, $60 million contract with the Miami Heat.
In return, we have seen the best numbers in Johnson’s career. Once again we can expect this was part of president Pat Riley’s master plan to piece together a group of misfits that work together smoothly. But his transition to the Heat hasn’t been as smooth as some would have hoped for.
It wasn’t received well by Heat Nation when Johnson was first signed to a one-year deal. Even after having his best year across the board, many fans were still questioning Riley’s decision to give Johnson a four-year contract of that magnitude, while accustomed to coming off the bench.
So why would Riley do such a thing? Because it works. Whether it’s coming off the bench while being paired with Tyler Johnson to become The Brothers Johnson, or taking a starting role, he has been valuable to this team.
While Johnson’s numbers have made a slight decrease this season compared to last, he is filling multiple roles. Some due to injuries and some due to trying to find the right lineup. Either way, he has been versatile and extremely open to doing whatever the team needs him to. He’s irreplaceable on the defensive end and does so much on offense that is not displayed on the stat sheet.
As a player, he has an incredible work ethic that goes unmatched. It leads us to the question, are we seeing the best James Johnson, or is he just getting started?
His journey has been unique to say the least, as we look at where Johnson started, where he is now, and where his game may take him.
Then
James Johnson became only the third player in Wake Forest Men’s Basketball history to leave early for the NBA Draft. In 2009, after his sophomore year, he decided that it was his time. The two-time third-team All-ACC honoree, freshman All-American and ACC Rookie of the Year runner-up accumulated quite the resume at Wake Forest.
While it’s unnecessary to add more to the skills section of his resume, he’s stuffed it full. Johnson is the son of a seven-time world kickboxing champion and former Marine father, and a five-time nationals winner in kickboxing mother. His eight siblings are all black belts, while he is a second-degree black belt.
With his undefeated seven MMA matches and 21-0 kickboxing record, Johnson is not someone you want to pick a fight with on the court.
Selected by the Chicago Bulls, No. 16 overall in the 2009 NBA Draft, Johnson played in 65 games making 11 starts as a rookie.
As a sophomore in the league, his numbers increased on the stat sheet. Unfortunately, that was overseen by splitting the season between the Bulls and the Toronto Raptors, as well as the Iowa Energy of the NBA G-League. Out of his 38 NBA games, he started 25. His production increased to 7.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 0.97 blocks per game.
After a couple of stints with the Raptors and stops with the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings, Johnson made his home in Miami.
His one-year contract in the 2016-17 season ended with leading the Heat in plus/minus (+138). With just five starts in the season, his production was unmatched off the bench. While some undermined his work, it didn’t go unnoticed around the league. Johnson finished fifth in voting for NBA Sixth Man of the Year and sixth for the Most Improved Player of the Year.
Now
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.
What’s To Come
We’re just scratching the surface of James Johnson’s career with the Heat. Maybe not in a way that we will see ridiculous numbers in the next couple of years, but in ways that makes him irreplaceable.
At some point, everyone on this team will be healthy (fingers crossed). As that slowly happens, Johnson will be able to get comfortable settling into the new role Spoelstra has asked of him. His fierce work ethic will get him to where he wants to go as far as playing his role.
At times, playing so many different roles can lead to indecisiveness on the court. Johnson is in his eighth year in the NBA, so that’s not something that will continue. Factor in his newest mentor, Dwyane Wade, and there’s plenty of hope that Johnson will find himself again. This won’t be a back-and-forth trend where Johnson seems like the player everyone has envisioned him to be or a bust after one successful season. This is a solid player that knows how to get his groove back.
A few poor games will not derail Johnson’s career with the Heat. If Miami makes a run this post-season, you can bet that he will have a huge part in it. With three more seasons on his contract, he’s hard to visualize as a trade asset. Not because there’s not a market for him or it would be hard to work out a deal. It would be hard to trade Johnson because of what he brings to the court and the practice facility. Someone who works as hard as Johnson does can become contagious.
He will give Miami everything he has and is slowly becoming a fan favorite. It’s hard to envision Johnson not playing out the remainder of his contract in South Beach.
Next: Miami Heat's Wayne Ellington: Then, now and what's to come
James Johnson fills a vital position and is a unique player. Watch him develop into this role as things calm down and see just how irreplaceable he is.