Miami Heat: Does Joe Johnson Make The Heat Contenders?

With the somewhat surprising addition of Joe Johnson, are the Miami Heat contenders in the Eastern Conference?

Joe Johnson escaped the black hole of atrocious Brooklyn Nets basketball after reaching a buyout agreement and signing a one-year contract with the Miami Heat. President Pat Riley valued Johnson’s shooting, toughness, and experience enough to undertake the complex roster maneuvering necessary to avoid paying the luxury tax.

In his first week in a Miami Heat uniform, both the swingman and his new team have enjoyed success on their way to four straight wins.

Johnson has had a long and storied career as an All-Star with a sweet shooting stroke and a tendency for crunch time heroics. He came into his own as a go-to option on the Atlanta Hawks but was unable to lead them past the second round.

Joe and his eye-popping six-year, $119 million contract were unloaded to Brooklyn in the summer of 2012 with expectations to push the core of Deron Williams and Brook Lopez into title contention. But as Williams can attest, Brooklyn is where All-Star careers go to die. Johnson’s production inexorably crashed and his contract became a laughingstock around the league.

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But he is now free from crushing expectations and has an attractive skill set as a role player. Johnson can’t move like he used to, but his game was never based purely on athleticism. He is a career 37 percent three-point shooter despite bearing the burden of taking tough threes late in the shot clock as his team’s best player.

Johnson also retained his craftiness and strength in the post, providing a nice bail out option when offensive possessions break down.

He’s never been a stellar defensive player and his performance on that end has definitely fallen off as his quickness continues to desert him. But he’s serviceable, and his contributions in shooting and leadership will offset the defensive deficiencies. The Heat’s roster says “title contention” on paper but looks dysfunctional in action.

In the summer of 2014, Riley worked hard to add players capable of filling a LeBron-sized chasm with the hopes of continuing to have a playoff presence. He’s mortgaged future draft picks to trade for Goran Dragic and other shiny pieces, relying on Erik Spoelstra to figure out how they fit together on the court.

So far, it hasn’t worked out that great.

This team was supposed to challenge the Cavs for the Eastern Conference Title, but identity problems and internal dynamics have resulted in a disappointing record of 36-26. Spoelstra has received criticism for misusing Dragic, whose dribble penetration skills are often marginalized as he sits off the ball watching Wade go to work.

Hassan Whiteside has turned from pleasant surprise to team chemistry liability. Rookie Justise Winslow is teeming with potential but still raw. Chris Bosh was having a great season until he was sidelined by a blood clot in his calf. The Heat’s main contributors have been in and out of the lineup and just haven’t seemed to mesh well yet. Overall, the roster is an eclectic collection of whirring parts that do not always operate in rhythm.

Joe Johnson is by no means a panacea, but he does address some of the problems particular to this edition of the Heat. Because of his shooting, Johnson is just as effective off the ball, if not more so; he should quickly establish himself as a spot up threat surrounding the slicing dribble penetration of Wade and Dragic. This new dynamic spaces the floor and is a clear upgrade over Luol Deng, Gerald Green, and whoever else Spoelstra currently uses on the wing to complement Wade.