3. Tyler Johnson | 4-year, $50 million
Before Tyler Herro, there was another Tyler in South Beach., one who had some similarities in his game but never produced to the level Herro has. That’s right before Miami had a Herro; they had Bumpy.
That is the unflattering yet endearing nickname of Tyler Johnson, one of the many players in Miami’s history who vastly exceeded their initial career expectations.
Johnson went undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft and would begin his NBA career after joining the Heat’s Summer League team. He would not initially make the team, but after spending much of the season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Johnson would debut with the Heat on a 10-day contract.
After securing a second 10-day contract, Johnson had proven himself enough to earn a two-year deal with the Heat. He would average 7.4 points while slashing 45.9/37.8/74.8 in just over 21 minutes of action a night over those years before hitting restricted free agency in the summer of 2016.
Johnson had garnered enough attention that the Heat were far from the only team interested, and he would eventually sign an offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets for $50 million over four years. The Heat would then match the offer in order to retain their young shooter.
In hindsight, there were a few warning signs with this deal. The sheer size of the deal, the unproven track record, and then, of course, there was the shoulder surgery that Johnson underwent toward the end of the 2015-16 season.
At best, one could say that Johnson’s first two seasons were fine, to put it mildly. He produced, averaging 12.7 points while shooting 36.9 from deep over 145 total games. There just wasn’t much more to his game than some slightly above-average shooting, and it became clear Tyler Johnson simply wasn’t a $50 million man.