When James Johnson was asked about whether his affection for the Heat could translate into a team-friendly contract in free agency this offseason, the forward took a measured stance Sunday, reports Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Johnson reiterated his love the organization, while maintaining that a business decision must be made:
“I love this place so much and the opportunity they gave me. I couldn’t thank them enough. Down the line, it’s hard in this phase of my career to try to find somewhere that you call home or you want it to be home and things like that. So you know the love I have for this team is up there. But it’s just something I got to let the agent and Pat [Riley] discuss and try to figure out, and then just give my last say so at the end.”
Johnson enjoyed a career season in 2016/17, averaging 12.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.6 APG.
Here’s what else you should know from the Southeast division:
- On Monday, J.J. Frazier (Georgia) was set to work out for the Hawks, reported Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (link via Twitter). Other participants scheduled to work out for the Hawks that day were Johnathan Motley (Baylor), Jordan Bell (Oregon), London Perrantes (Virginia), Semi Ojeleye (SMU), and Damyean Dotson (Houston), also via Vivlamore (link via Twitter).
- On Tuesday, the Hawks held pre-draft workouts for seven more players, according to the team’s website: Troy Caupain (Cincinnati), Ilimane Diop (Baskonia), TJ Leaf (UCLA), Landen Lucas (Kansas), Tyler Lydon (Syracuse), Anžejs Pasečniks (Gran Canaria), and Jeremy Senglin (Weber State).
- On Monday, the Hornets held their fourth pre-draft workout, hosting Jaron Blossomgame (Clemson), Antonius Cleveland (Southeast Missouri State), PJ Dozier (South Carolina), Avry Holmes (Clemson), Justin Patton (Creighton), and Quinton Stephens (Georgia Tech), according to the team’s official website.
- The Hornets held another pre-draft workout session on Tuesday, hosting Jamel Artis (Pittsburgh), Sidy Djitte (Clemson), Youssoupha Fall (France), Xavier Rathan-Mayes (Florida State), Melo Trimble (Maryland), and Elijah Wilson (Coastal Carolina), also via the team’s website.
- Donovan Mitchell worked out for the Heat on Tuesday, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Follow the link to read an analysis of Mitchell’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Should the Heat prioritize acquiring Rudy Gay, Paul George, or Gordon Hayward this offseason? Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel does cost-benefit analysis with regard to each of the three talented small forwards.
I’ve talked about the more realistic approach for the Heat, but if the Gordon Heyward thing is legit, and that actually happens, I’d say the best option would then be to use the rest of the space to keep James Johnson. They’d have to let Ellington go and stretch McRoberts, and unfortunately watch Dion walk, and then they’d have 3-5 million left to sign someone, plus the room exception at $4.3 million. 1 of those guys would have to replace Willie Reed, b/c they couldn’t afford to keep him at that price. The draft should really dictate a lot this year, in my opinion. So many possible outcomes mean that it’s hard to know the direction until we see what happens there.