8 Players Miami Heat chose to hold on for way too long

Miami Heat Hassan Whiteside (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
Miami Heat Hassan Whiteside (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
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Tyler Johnson, Miami Heat
Tyler Johnson, Miami Heat (Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Tyler Johnson (2014-19)

During the 2014-15 NBA season, Tyler Johnson jumped onto the scene for the Miami Heat. After two quality seasons for the Heat, in which he emerged as a valuable (and much-needed) rotation player for the team, Johnson cashed in with a life-changing contract during the summer of 2016. Johnson signed a four-year, $50 million offer sheet (otherwise known as a poison pill deal with the way it was structured) with the Brooklyn Nets.

As history would remember, instead of letting Johnson move on, the Heat would match the offer and it would be something the team would regret. While Johnson wasn’t a bad player for the Heat, his offensive efficiency took a bit of a hit in each of the next three seasons and was a contract that the team couldn’t move until the final year of its installment.

Johnson was a good story for the Heat but was certainly a player that the team didn’t need to extend. However, it was a difficult time for Miami and they needed to overpay to a certain extent to retain talent. To offer injury to insult, it was that same summer that the Heat decided to move on from Dwyane Wade as he signed with the Chicago Bulls in free agency.