Tyler Johnson‘s production dropped off in 2017-18. Entering an expensive new contract with the Miami Heat, it’s time the team started playing to his strengths.
The NBA Playoffs are notorious for shortening team rosters; what were once nine or 10 man rotations, get slashed to seven or eight to create better cohesion within squads looking to take home the NBA’s grand prize.
The regular season however, is a case study of just the opposite.
Trying to figure out which players and lineups will be the ones to ride during the playoffs is a nightly game of roulette, as coaches spin the wheel on potential successful combinations.
In the Miami Heat’s case, a near fully loaded roster to start the 2018-19 season, all of which returns from last season, opens an opportunity to mix and match the pieces and parts that will, ideally, build upon the post-season success from 2017-18.
Of course, a handful of parts have been a tad more difficult to place than others.
James Johnson, whose sports hernia may have him sidelined to start the year, is a jack-of-all-trades, capable of playmaking as a pseudo-point guard, or running as a more traditional power forward.
Wayne Ellington, who should be good to go for Miami’s first game on Wednesday, missed all of preseason with an ailing left ankle. When he’s healthy, his role is unquestioned. But so much of Ellington’s game revolves around his choppy cuts and winding strides around screens, that playing at anything less than 100 percent will noticeably slow down his contributions.
And then there is Dion Waiters. In years past, he was the closest thing Miami had to a star. He took big shots. He put up big numbers. And he had a big injury, one that derailed the team’s traditional rotation like he was its star player.
Waiters’ timeline is still undetermined as of now, and his return won’t simply amount to a plug-and-play approach. Rather, head coach Erik Spoesltra will need to massage him into rotations, as Dwyane Wade and Josh Richardson likely share the brunt of big time shot making.
But more puzzling than any of those pieces is Tyler Johnson.
By the end of last season, Johnson’s contract was his biggest crutch, more so than the sprained left ankle that sidelined him for five games last January.
His salary jumps from a modest $5.8 million last season to $19 million this year, putting him in the top-50 among earners in the NBA.
However, Johnson’s play was not indicative of his newfound riches, instead seeing his scoring and passing averages dip from 2016-17.
And part of his difficulty in maintaining consistency was the lineup.
For almost exactly half of the season, Spoesltra played him off the bench, forcing Johnson to get used to running with different lineups.
Two of Johnson’s most played lineups were based around the starting guard play of Dragic, which allowed Johnson to focus on his own shot creation.
Here, though the pass comes from Waiters, Johnson is able to feed off of the defense’s misdirection.
He could have side stepped for an open jumper, after fading Brandon Paul with the pump—Davis Bertans would never have made it in time—but he instead tries his luck, rather skill, swerving in mid-air past a trio of Spurs.
But as the play’s benefactor, and not originator, Johnson was able to play to his strengths.
This is where Johnson excels, effectively taking a page out of Wade’s playbook.
At 6-foot-4, Johnson never hesitates to challenge bigger defenders.
In 2016-17, the season after Johnson signed his $50 million deal, he was third on the Heat in free throws attempted per game, as many of his interior exchanges ended with him at the charity stripe.
But, throughout the season, Johnson played as a combo guard, at times leaving him out of sorts when forced to play in a secondary lineup with he and the other Johnson sharing ball-handling duties.
As a playmaker, Johnson’s usage of the pick-and-roll, a staple play for today’s guards, paled in comparison to that of Dragic, a traditional guard who ran the play about seven times each night.
His driving game dropped off noticeably too, from 7.8 per game to 5.5 last year, thus accentuating his catch-and-shoot attempts and reducing his free-throws.
While not terrible—Johnson shot 37.5 percent on catch-and-shoot 3’s in 2017-18—missing contested long 2’s made his shot selection look worse than it usually is, further hampering Miami’s offense.
The Heat’s offense, like others, is predicated on free-wheeling drive and kickout possessions.
If Johnson gets stuck as a shooter, his offensive impact weakens.
He is no longer drawing fouls and shooting free-throws (which supremely hurt Miami in the playoffs), instead playing as a defective Ellington clone.
This year, the laundry list of to-dos that includes figuring out Johnson’s role needs to be finished fast, especially considering the Heat are well aware of his strengths.
Like what Miami has done with Hassan Whiteside, it’s time to start indulging them.