Miami Heat guard Tyler Johnson: Then, now and what’s to come

Then

Tyler Johnson was born May 7, 1992, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. After attending high school in California, he played basketball for four years at Fresno State and ended his collegiate career at No. 16 on their all-time scoring list.

In his senior year at Fresno State, Johnson started every game, averaging 15.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.

After graduating in 2014, he was not selected in the NBA draft, but was signed as a free agent in August with the Heat. A few months later in October, the Heat waived Johnson, but four days later he entered the G-League with the Heat’s affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Then, in February 2015 he officially re-signed with the Heat and has been with them since.

Early in his career, Johnson was not a huge contributor to the Heat. In his first two seasons, he played in a total of 68 games. Year one, he averaged just 5.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists. Improving in his second year, Johnson averaged 8.7 points, 3 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

As a player just entering the league, Johnson found himself on a Heat team that was in a period of figuring out who they were after the LeBron James exit in summer 2014. In those first and second seasons, the Heat went 37-45 and 48-34.

However, it wasn’t until the 2016-17 season, after Wade’s departure, that the team dynamic began to really shift, which is when Johnson started playing almost 30 minutes a game.

And last year, Johnson began to really show some of his potential, averaging 13.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists.