Amir Johnson

Amir Johnson
PF, 6’9, 240lbs, 30 years old, 12 years of experience

A long since underrated starting power forward or third-big-in-a-three-big-man-rotation type who, unfortunately, is not that any more. Johnson's mobility is going, and so is his effectiveness; no longer with the mobility to defend his position nor attack the glass like he could, let alone run like his younger self, Johnson now exists as a reliable, unremarkable, solid, intelligent post player with the occasional ability to stretch the floor on the world’s slowest release, without the explosion and dynamicism of his youth. He just played 1,608 regular season minutes, but it would be a surprise to see him crack 1,200 again. As a free agent this summer, Johnson has an enormous cap hold that might be required elsewhere, so he could well be departing, unless he were to re-sign for the room MLE. That would be a bargain, but even then, finding a more athletic alter-native may be more valuable.

Player Plan: Expiring $12 million contract. If the cap space ambitions are to be re-alised, Johnson will need to be renounced, but if he will take the cap room MLE after-wards, that would be a good payment for his services. May get more elsewhere, though, even when considering his declining game (which should limit any deal to a maximum of two years).

Aside from Derozan and the Waves, the other big cheer came for Sundiata Gaines, recent ten day contract signee of the Nets and a former Raptors guard, who came in for the first time in the fourth quarter and pretty much won the Nets the game. With his 7 points and 2 assists in the final 7 minutes of the fourth quarter, Gaines effectively closed out the game for New Jersey, the welcome recipient of a Toronto lineup that could not stop anybody for more than one possession in a row, and which also couldn't make a basket below the six minute mark. There was also quite a big cheer when Brook Lopez and the otherwise silent Amir Johnson (who somehow recorded a -31 in a game that was close throughout) threatened to throw hands after a hard foul in the fourth quarter.

- One of the first signings announced in this free agency period was that of Amir Johnson, who last year backed up Chris Bosh in Toronto. He played well, being possibly Toronto's best defender and averaging 6/5 in 17.7 minutes per game with a PER of 16.7. The Raptors re-signed Johnson to a deal worth $30 million in base compensation (not $34 million as was widely reported), with incentives in the deal to potentially boost its value that are currently listed as "unlikely."

Amir's contract before incentives will pay him $5,000,000 next year, rising by $500,000 annually to a total of $7 million in the fifth and final year. However, that $7 million salary in the final year is only $5 million guaranteed; if Toronto (or whoever owns him at that time) waives him, that's all they'll pay him. He'll be off the team, of course, yet the team will save $2 million.

[...] In Amir Johnson's case, the unguaranteed portion of the deal means very little. His contract currently costs $6 million annually; all that waiving him will do will raise that per annum cost to $7 million. As unguaranteed contracts go, it's almost as useless as Eduardo Najera's current one, which had all but $500,000 guaranteed in his final two savings, for no obvious reason. (It is now fully guaranteed.) Nevertheless, the trend for including a partially guaranteed final season/s for non-star players continues.