Amir Johnson Isn’t a Terrible Safety Net For Celtics

Maybe not the star Boston is hoping to land, but Amir Johnson for another season isn’t the worst thing in the world

Free agency isn’t even a day old and some of the biggest names on the market have already agreed on deals. Hassan Whiteside has agreed to stay with the Miami Heat, Nicolas Batum took less than a max contract with the Charlotte Hornets, and the rumor is there’s a 90 percent chance Kevin Durant stays with the Thunder.

While the Celtics still have hopes of bringing in Al Horford or Dwight Howard, retaining Amir Johnson wouldn’t be the worst idea. The Celtics and Johnson agreed to amend the date the Celtics have to fully guarantee his contract from July 3 to July 7, giving them four extra days to pitch to marquee free agents before deciding whether to fully guarantee his contract of $12 million next season.

It wouldn’t make headlines, however, bringing back Johnson for another season might be the best situation for the Celtics. And from what it sounds like, that’s exactly what the Celtics are planning on doing.

As of now, Johnson would be the team’s highest paid player, again. Although, with the new salary cap, $12 million is a lot less on the books than in the past, and it won’t impact their future plans either. With only one-year left on his deal, Johnson’s $12 million wouldn’t ruin their chances of signing a max contract player this year and would be off the books next summer when the free agency class is a lot better.

It’s unlikely the Celtics will sign both Howard and Horford. One or the other seems plausible, but that still would leave a hole at power forward. Obviously the Celtics could try to bring back Evan Turner to start and run a small ball lineup with Jae Crowder at the four, but I doubt Brad Stevens wants an undersized lineup to be his go-to-lineup.

Boston could also look towards the free agency route, however, players on the open market might command more than Johnson, and not fit as well into Stevens’ system. Also, signing a mid-tier player to a multi-year contract this off-season could impact their future plans.

Bringing Johnson back gives Stevens another player who knows their style of play, and is willing to accept any role. Also, it gives them a reliable front court starter, something they’re lacking at the moment.

Johnson started 76 of his 79 games played last season, his first in Boston. He didn’t put up great numbers, however, he was productive and stuck to his role. On the year, Johnson contributed 7.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in 22.8 minutes.

He didn’t have a huge role, but his consistent production was undervalued last season. Johnson averaged a double-double per 36 minutes (11.5 points, 10.1 rebounds) and was the only player who averaged a block or more per contest on the team.

As important as scorers are, teams are always looking for players who can impact the game without the ball, and that’s what Johnson does. His 13.6 percent usage rate was the second smallest on the team, only ahead of Jonas Jerebko. The offense never ran through Johnson, rather he did the dirty work under the basket and created extra possessions – finished second on team with 2.3 offensive rebounds per game.

He’s the type of player who will fit into whatever role you ask him to and not complain. In the regular season, it was to stay in the paint and provide solid defense, an occasional basket, and to attack the glass. He did so very effectively.

He shot a robust 62.4 percent from two-point range, and was nearly unstoppable inside of 10 feet. Johnson connected on 71.2 percent of his shots in the paint and 50.8 percent of them from 3-to-10 feet out. Despite only seeing 5.4 shots per contest during the regular season, he was the lone big man on Boston who was consistently productive in the paint and didn’t hang on the three-point line all the time.

That kind of play was highlighted during the playoffs when Johnson had a bigger impact on the game than his stats might suggest. He finished the postseason averaging 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, with a postseason-high 71 two-point percentage.

The slower tempo against the Atlanta Hawks proved to be the Celtics achilles heel, although it likely would’ve been worse without Johnson in the paint. He was consistently putting pressure on opposing players down low. For as many easy layups or dunks the Hawks saw, it would have been substantially worse without Johnson guarding the rim.

Obviously Johnson is a little undersized, which doesn’t make him the ideal rim protector, but right now he’s the closest thing Boston has to one on their roster. He doesn’t get bullied in the paint and has worked around his shorter height throughout his career, especially in the postseason last year when he was very productive blocking shots – 2.1 blocks per 36 minutes.

His role on offense next season won’t be bigger, and he’ll be asked to do the same dirty work that made him an unsung hero for Boston last season. When it comes down to it, there are a lot worse options than a veteran like Amir Johnson, especially at $12 million which is starting to seem like a reasonable price after some early free agent agreements.

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Also, his ability to play the power forward and center position gives Boston flexibility. They liked to turn to small ball lineups at the end of last year, and Johnson being the center in those situations worked out well.

Adding Horford or Howard would still be ideal, but bringing Johnson back also seems like a no-brainer at this point as well. He fills in nicely and can play next to either.

Horford, who likes to use his mid-range game a lot – 47.5 shots came from 16 feet or farther last season – would compliment Johnson well, as he has plenty of experience playing with those type of players.

Howard as well, since Johnson isn’t a big part of the offense, Howard would still be the main front court option on offense and would see enough shots to make him happy.

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Johnson isn’t going to make the All-Star team, but he’s a solid starter who is capable of having a big game every once in a while. He’s a nice bridge year power forward for the Celtics who hope to make a big splash next summer.