Heat bring back versatile point-forward James Johnson on new contract
MIAMI -- The Miami Heat announced today that they have re-signed forward James Johnson. As per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"James Johnson epitomizes everything that the Miami Heat is about," said Heat President Pat Riley. "He came in, made a promise to us and then fulfilled that promise by becoming a world class athlete thus leading to the best season he has had in the NBA. Today, he is being rewarded for the fulfillment of that promise. We will continue to push him to get him to an even higher level. His signing today, for me personally and the coaching staff, is one of our happiest signings. We are happy for James and his family as we look for him to have an even greater year next season."
Johnson appeared in 76 games (five starts) with the Heat last season and averaged 12.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.13 blocks, 1.00 steals and 27.4 minutes while shooting 47.9 percent from the field.
The eight-year NBA veteran set single-season career highs last season in every major category including points (975), rebounds (376), assists (276), steals (76), blocks (86), field goals made (368), three-point field goals made (87) and free throws made (152). He led the team in plus/minus (+138) and his improvement from 2015-16 to last season in Miami was the largest in the NBA when factoring points, rebounds and assists per game averages, nobody in the league improved in each of those three categories more.
Johnson was Miami's leading scorer off the bench 27 times and topped the Heat reserves in assists a team-high 43 times, in blocks on 38 occasions, in rebounds a team-high 31 times and in steals 28 times. He posted nine 20-point games as a reserve, tying for the fourth-most during a single-season in Heat history, as Miami totaled 22 such games off the bench, the most in team history.
He tallied 884 points, 341 rebounds and 248 assists as a reserve, and along with Tyler Johnson, they became the only set of teammates in the entire NBA to each record at least 600 points, 250 rebounds and 200 assists off the bench. On the defensive end, Johnson was in isolation situations 53 times last season, giving up just 22 percent (9-of-41) shooting to the player he was guarding, marking the second-lowest percentage in the entire NBA by player with at least that many isolation situations. Additionally, he gave up just 0.49 points per isolation possession (26 total), also the second-lowest in the league with at least 53 isolation situations.
Johnson has appeared in 474 regular season career games (145 starts) and averaged 7.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 19.7 minutes while shooting 47.7 percent from the floor.
