James Johnson and the Miami Heat have agreed to a four-year deal worth $60 million, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick. The fourth year will have a player option.
James Johnson, Heat agree to a 4-year, $60 million deal, per report
Johnson will be returning after a breakout year.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The new terms will guarantee Johnson will stay in Miami after breaking out there last season. Johnson, drafted just outside the lottery in the 2009 NBA Draft, has bounced around the league, unable to find a situation that ever quite worked for him. It wasn’t until he arrived in Miami that head coach Erik Spoelstra was able to put his skills to work correctly, more than any other coach had done previously.
Last season, Johnson averaged nearly 13 points and 3.6 assists per game on 48 percent shooting. Johnson also proved to be a better three-point shooter than at any other point in his career, taking 3.4 and hitting 34 percent of them, both career highs. Miami developing him into a solid scorer and using his point forward abilities proved highly effective, especially in the second half of the season, when the Heat finished 30-11.
Still, the Heat are now paying Johnson $15 million per season to possibly come off the bench, as he did in all but five of his games in Miami last season. Johnson did average 28 minutes per night, but the Heat’s payroll keeps growing after re-upping Dion Waiters and adding Kelly Olynyk.
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