2. James Johnson
After his breakout season of 2016-17, Johnson somewhat underwhelmed after being rewarded with a four-year, $59.1 million contract last summer. Having bounced around the league prior to his arrival in South Beach, Johnson utilized his newfound physical condition by becoming an integral piece on both ends of the floor.
Last season, while he was still a valuable contributor at various stages, Johnson’s overall level of productivity took a dip, with his postseason hernia surgery being a possible reason behind this decline. Recently, Johnson’s agent Mark Bartelstein commented on his injury struggles last season:
"“It’s something that he played through last year and it affected him for sure. They don’t come any tougher than James. His pain threshold is unlike anyone I’ve seen.”"
Heat forward James Johnson underwent surgery for sports hernia, league sources told Yahoo. Johnson had procedure recently, following Miami's first-round series loss.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 28, 2018
At 6’8″ and possessing an impressive combination of physical presence and athleticism, Johnson provides the Heat a distinct point of difference. With the ability to handle the ball, act as a distributor while also being able to defend multiple positions on the floor, Johnson’s vast array of skills are crucial in enabling head coach Erik Spoelstra to field a number of different-looking lineups, depending on the game situation.
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/976096020269383680
However, with $45.4 million remaining on his deal, the pressure will be ramped up a notch on the 31-year-old this coming season to not only return to his level of play of 2016-17, but to raise his play to another level.
The manner in which Johnson responds could be very telling in just how far the Heat progress this season.