Keshad Johnson has had a relatively quiet summer and preseason, and it's not exactly how the Miami Heat hoped it would play out after signing him to a standard two-year contract last December. The hope for Johnson was that he would show further development this offseason. So far, the gamble to sign Johnson to their standard roster has not played out.
And that may be putting it nicely.
If something doesn't click quickly for Johnson, it's going to be incredibly difficult to successfully push back on the notion that he hasn't become somewhat of a wasted roster addition. It's hard to imagine Johnson breaking the Heat's rotation, unless it is out of complete desperation, and for a team that is short on talent, having a player that isn't expected to add much to the roster isn't a good development.
I don't believe that anyone inside the Heat's organization is ready to give up on the Johnson experiment, but it's pretty clear that this move hasn't paid off much, if at all. Not yet.
Keshad Johnson's preseason showcase
In pretty consistent minutes (23 MPG) through the first five games of the Heat's preseason, Johnson has averaged six points, four rebounds, and three assists per game on 42 percent shooting from the field overall.
The fact that he hasn't made the most of his opportunity for the Heat in the preseason, while they've been nursing multiple injuries to key rotation players, is not great. It doesn't give the team any confidence that they've made the right decision by betting on Johnson.
At this point, there's a very real chance the Heat may have bet on Johnson, and it simply didn't pay off.
In theory, it's tough to blame the Heat. There's a lot to like about Johnson as a raw prospect. He's athletic and has all the potential in the world. Especially in a great developmental system like the Heat's, you'd imagine that taking a gamble on Johnson would pay off.
That hasn't happened, and in the final year of his contract, there isn't much hope that Johnson is ever going to develop the way the Heat believed.
And listen, this is not an extremely costly move by Miami. He didn't cost much, and it was a low-risk flier. But with a guaranteed roster spot, it certainly has limited the Heat in what they can and couldn't do (without waiving him) this past summer.
There are times when even the best front offices in the world miss on a player. I suppose it's still early, but it does feel as if that's exactly what happened to Miami with Johnson.