It wasn’t too long ago that Raptors fans were in an endless debate over James Johnson. This was a player who never averaged more than 10 points per game in his career, yet somehow always managed to spark fueled discussion nightly about how he should be used. He was a completely polarizing figure in Toronto. Some people would blame him for everything, some thought he was the solution to everything when he didn’t play. Some nights he’d play and look like he was indeed just an MMA fighter on a basketball court and on some nights, when he did play, he’d be truly the best player on the court on both ends and look like a legitimate all star. Though the flashes of brilliance took place in 2014-2015 much more often than they did in 2015-2016. Last year, Johnson mainly was a placeholder starter who was instructed to stand in the corner and take a backseat to the other four players on the court, and he averaged a career low 5 points per game, while barely seeing any playing time in the playoffs besides garbage time.

Johnson was quietly let go, and he was blended in with a bunch of “no-name” signings for the Miami Heat this offseason. The list included Luke Babbitt, Derrick Williams, Wayne Ellington and Dion Waiters. Johnson received a 1 year 4 million dollar deal. This was in a summer where Timofey Mozgov, Solomon Hill, Evan Turner, and Allen Crabbe were given massive $50 million + contracts that seemed ludicrous at the time and to no one’s surprise, they have all been horrid.

Johnson’s money received was basically zero and he has actually been one of the best deals of the offseason so far. So what changed?

The first big change with JJ was his size. In Toronto, Casey wanted him to bulk up and be ready to play the four, but Demarre Carroll’s injury forced JJ into a role he wasn’t built for. Because of that, JJ’s weight was an issue, but he has slimmed down and looks a lot like he did in Memphis weight wise. Take a look below and see for yourself:

If the pictures don’t look much different, keep in mind that Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra recently had this to say: “I think he’s in the best shape that he’s been in.”

Though he started the season off a little slow, it was interesting to see that Erik Spoelstra had Johnson in the rotation ahead of Derrick Williams, who was expected to play a vital role for the Heat after his solid season with the Knicks in 2015-2016. His role was undefined, but he was getting minutes every night, and it started ugly with Johnson not even recording a field goal in two of his first three games.

Season Accomplishments:

After a solid return to Toronto, Johnson began to see his minutes rise steadily. Since then, Johnson is playing roughly 25 minutes per game, while seeing 30 minutes or more in 7 of the Heat’s games. The Heat have 4 wins in those 7 games. He is really playing some of the best, and most consistent basketball of his career, and his usage rate is a career high, 20%.

Johnson has already set a career high in 3 pointers made relatively efficiently for his standards. He has shot the three ball at a respectable 33% clip this year, and he is averaging over 10 points per game. If that stands, it will be the first time he has done so in his career. He is also averaging 2 assists, 4 rebounds and a block, while playing stellar defense.

What has fascinated me the most with JJ this year is that he has played basically every position for Miami. He has even had moments where he has been “point center” and he has been very impressive at it. He’s had a newfound ability to create for others, and he is improving his play every single week. He has guarded opposing team’s point guards and opposing team’s centers. We saw him guarding The Greek Freak a few weeks ago, and two nights ago he was guarding Blake Griffin for the entire fourth quarter. He shut both of them down.

His defensive impact has been felt, and coach Spoelstra is rewarding him with all of these minutes, specifically in the fourth quarter. Johnson has actually played the entire fourth quarter in 3 of his last 4 games, and has been a ball dominant, key player down the stretch for the Heat.

Coming back to the defence comment, one of my favourite stats is that opponents are only shooting 50% on shots from less than 5 feet from the basket when defended by Johnson. Only George Hill, Derrick Favors and Justice Winslow do a better job at limiting opposing field goal percentages from there, and incredibly enough, Johnson also holds opponents to just a 35% field goal percentage on shots from 15-20 feet from the rim that he contests. This is by far the best mark on his team. He is not just a rim protector, but also an elite shot contester with the ability to hinder the shots of various player types.

While his impact has been felt on the defensive end, it is also worth noting that 87.5% of Johnson’s drives turn into points in which he goes up for a shot, and that is supported by a league best 66% field goal percentage on drives to the rim. No other player in the NBA besides George Hill is above 60% on drives to the rim. Lebron James is a 60% shooter on drives to the rim, and though he does it more, and his drives lead to a much lower percentage of turnovers, it just shows that Johnson is someone who can finish at the rim as well as anyone. He averages 4.3 drives per game. This is not a small sample size.

The Heat’s net rating is even with Johnson on the court, and their defensive rating goes from 112 without him to 101 with him according to nbawowy.com. Though he faces opposing team’s benches a lot, he also sees a lot of 4th quarter minutes, so the quality of opposition is an unfair argument. It is also unfair because much of his minutes are spent without Dragic and Whiteside.

It’s clear that the Heat got one of the steals in the offseason, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a guy like JJ, who has polished his game off, lost some weight and turned into a very versatile player, who can even splash threes, getting some big money thrown his way this offseason. It is really nice to see that JJ has been freed, and to show an example of how much different he looks, he is even getting youtube compilations of single game highlights. Be sure to check these out if you don’t believe me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=culiDP8XWtQ

In that game against Utah, his ability to shoot, create off the dribble and finish strong at the rim were all on display.

There is a look at his improved athleticism and vertical leaping ability. We did not see this last year.

I have always been a big fan of James Johnson and I was always on the side of #FreeJamesJohnson in the endless Twitter debates even when statistics started to argue against it last year. He was misused, and it is nice to see that he is being used properly in Miami. This is not to say that Johnson is some superstar that the Raptors let go, but he has proven his worth as a valuable two way small forward, who can play the 4 and the 5, and even the 1 at times. For what he has proven, it is clear that the Raptors did not get the most out of him. I still believe the Raptors could have used an in-shape, motivated JJ to help slow down Lebron, but the JJ we saw in the playoffs last year is a completely untransformed edition of what we see this year.

While it would have been nice if this sort of breakout happened here, that was clearly never going to happen with the depth the Raptors have. A quality player like Norman Powell can’t even find minutes night to night, and perhaps it is nice for us to be able to sit back and watch JJ playing without his leash on another team. I always felt it was a mistake to let him go and though Miami is struggling in the standings, they are laughing to the bank with this signing that can basically be considered free from this past offseason.

Johnson is probably someone the Raptors could use right now on the defensive end, as their defensive rating is in the lower third of the NBA. Considering his ability to do things that Demarre Carroll cannot do one on one, his 2.5% difference in 3 point percentage would not really matter or impact floor spacing because defenses are respecting his shot a lot more now, which creates room for Dragic and Tyler Johnson to drive to the rim. He would arguably be an upgrade to Carroll on offense if he was used properly, and his defensive metrics and the eye test suggest that he is a better and more versatile defender than Carroll in many instances. Regardless of if you agree with that hot take, Johnson is also making a quarter of the money that Carroll is making. This is not a shot at Carroll, but simply a reminder that the Raptors had this player and chose to let him go for nothing, despite being in the same topic of discussion as their 15 million dollar man at small forward, who has struggled with the same inconsistencies that JJ was shipped out of town for.

We’ll see how long JJ is left off his leash, and from what we’ve seen, I see no reason to expect things to change. Be sure to check him out and see the man we’ve all wanted to see off his leash at one point during his Raptors tenure.