Miami Heat: 5 goals for James Johnson in 2017-18
By Simon Smith
5. Increase rebounding rate
Over the course of his career, Johnson’s rebounding numbers have been nothing to write home about. On a per 36 minutes basis, Johnson has averaged 6.3 rebounds over 474 career games. In fact, his per 36 minutes return last season was in fact the fourth-highest of his career, despite having by far the best season of his career.
In his first season with the Heat, Johnson spent the majority of his time on the floor at the 4-spot, having spent the majority of his career at the 3-spot. But despite this positional change, Johnson’s rebounding rate did not improve. However, that’s not to say that Johnson isn’t capable of crashing the boards.
More from Miami Heat
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Report: Miami Heat hoping to keep key player out of Lillard trade talks
- Grade the Trade: The Heat pass on Lillard to land an MVP in this proposal
- NBA Rumors: Heat have big plans to upgrade frontcourt if they land Lillard
Last season, Johnson had 19 games where he recorded seven or rebounds, which included reaching double figures on four occasions. Increasing his rebounding rate would be greatly beneficial considering the playmaking abilities Johnson displayed throughout the course of the season.
If Johnson were able to grab the ball off the glass, the Heat would likely be able to exhibit their newly found pace-and-space approach on offence. Johnson’s ability to combine his athleticism and ball-handling was a feature of the Heat’s season, and there is no reason the frequency of these forays couldn’t increase moving forward.
But at the end of the day, sharing the court with an elite rebounder such as Hassan Whiteside is always going to diminish a player’s rebounding rate, no matter the standing or stature of the player. Leading the league at 14.1 rebounds per game, Whiteside’s prevalence on the boards is always going to prevent a player such as Johnson from excelling in this department.