PORTLAND, OR - FEBRUARY 5: Hassan Whiteside #21 and Tyler Johnson #8 of the Miami Heat hi-five during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on February 5, 2019 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) The Phoenix Suns pulled off a trade the day before the NBA trade deadline. It wasn’t an exciting move but it was a good one. The Phoenix Suns made a trade before the deadline and although it wasn’t a pretty one, it was not a bad one. The team didn’t bring in a flashy play maker or a player likely to be the future at the point guard position. None of what fans were getting excited about in the prospect of Lonzo Ball is true in the acquisition of Tyler Johnson. However, that isn’t the way to look at this move. This deal makes a lot of sense for several reasons and the front office should get kudos for it, not backlash. First things first, as much as it’s being dissed as not making sense for financial reasons, it really does. Both players contracts end after the completion of next season, at the latest. The Suns are going to pay $3.7 million more next season for Johnson. That’s more than a reasonable price to upgrade from bench fodder old man Ryan Anderson to a good young guard that can actually play. Anderson was brought to the valley with the expectation that he could be a solid stretch four next to Deandre Ayton but ended up being a big disappointment. He doesn’t provide defense, is not a strong rebounder and only really has provided shooting through out his career. His shooting numbers were horrible in Phoenix and that doomed him to the end of the bench. Johnson on the other hand, it appears, is coming to the valley without much expectation being set on him. The team turned a player that wasn’t going to play into a player that will play. Anderson is 30-years-old, shooting 31% from the field and 20% from downtown, while averaging 3.7 points per game this season. Johnson is 26-years-old, shooting 42% from the field and 35% from downtown, while averaging 10.8 points per game this season. He isn’t going to be relied upon to bring any thing other than his shooting, ball handling and “blue collar” work ethic. There is no reason he shouldn’t be able to provide that here. For ball handling, he immediately steps in as being the second-best, after franchise player Devin Booker. This will help take some stress and burden off our best player as well as help, hopefully, cut down the turnovers. He stated he is comfortable playing either guard spot and that’s a plus, especially when Booker is as well. Does he act like a point guard? Ideally, you would like a whole lot more than 3 assists per-36 minutes from someone at that position. His assist percentage is less than half the rate of Booker. However, could that partially be from other players being isolation guys? Could that have any thing to do with Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow running that position? How about the difference in style between how the Miami Heat play? That isn’t to say he’s a high assist guy but that number could definitely go up, even just slightly, in Phoenix. He can help get his new teammates in the right spots, and he does like to push the tempo and pace, which will fit in with the Suns style. There is no doubt about the fact that he will have to take on a different role here but he’s already accepted it, will bring some leadership and teach the young players some things that he’s been able to pick up. Head coach Igor Kokoskov described him as an “unorthodox lefty” and said he can impact the game as a scorer off catch-and-shoot threes but can also attack the rim off the bounce. Johnson enjoys driving and finishing at the rim, similar to Kelly Oubre, and it’s no secret how fans have taken to him. Tyler has a strong work ethic, is scrappy and can guard point guards, so defensively he will help at the position. De’Anthony Melton has provided some solid work on that end but this move brings in some experience as well as someone that can help teach Melton a thing or two about guarding the more elite guards in the league. He’s a two-way player, which fits right in to the core that Phoenix has been developing. He will be able to step right in next to Oubre, Mikal Bridges and Josh Jackson in that aspect while helping them hone in on their skills and be the best they can be. Coming from the Miami culture, he knows that is part of survival and will pressure the young guys to ball out. In terms of statistics, he does not fit the bill as the next great Suns point guard. However, by his words and him being repetitive on that he will now get to be himself, he may just surprise. At the worst, he’ll be able to play some meaningful basketball, something Ryan didn’t do as a Sun. He brings playoff experience and winning DNA as well per Kokoskov, who applauded Johnson for being able to come in as an undrafted player that started from scratch to get to where he is today. He’s a 37% three point shooter through his career and averaged 13.7 points in 2016-17. Just because he peaked as a Heat doesn’t mean he can’t surprise as a Sun. This move was very smart, turning someone sitting on the bench into a rotation guy at the least. If all goes well, he may be even more than that.<doc-sep>"I think my initial reaction was, 'What am I going to do with my kids?' I have two kids so that was probably the biggest thing, is trying to figure out what's going to go on with them, where are they going to be at. So that was first."<doc-sep>When the Phoenix Suns sent the body of Ryan Anderson to Miami in exchange for combo guard Tyler Johnson, Suns fans collectively shrugged and turned back to their social media feeds for something bigger and better. But after the deadline passed, we all realized that was the only move the Suns would make. And we were underwhelmed. Now let’s meet Johnson, who will immediately step into a starting guard role next to Devin Booker (when healthy). Johnson is an undrafted kid who the Miami Heat found on the street, won a rotation position and played so well in two years that the Brooklyn Nets tried to steal him away with a huge restricted offer sheet ($50 million for 4 years, with a cap-required breakdown of 5/5/19/19 salaries). But the Heat matched, and have had Johnson as a solid part of their rotation since. Johnson’s final year is a player option, giving him the security of playing the 2019-20 season making $19 million before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2020. His impact on the Suns is financially negligible this season, and a net $3.6 million more next season over Ryan Anderson’s guaranteed salary. Either Anderson or Johnson could be waived and stretched, spreading their salaries across three years of dead money ($5-6 million hit per year). Most likely, the Suns keep Johnson for 2019-20, paying him a net $3.6 million over Anderson’s dead cap money. Money aside, let’s take a look at the player. Since Ryan Anderson wasn’t even in the rotation, Johnson is a clear add without taking anything away. Johnson likely eats up whatever minutes Troy Daniels was getting, whatever minutes any second rookie point guard was getting, and probably a lot of Jamal Crawford’s minutes. Johnson will be a starter and play at least 25 minutes per game. What he is not Tyler Johnson is not that big name trade or free agent acquisition good enough to help share the alpha-dog role with Devin Booker. Nah, that’s still a pipe dream, and must be ignored for the next four to five months now that the trade deadline passed. Johnson is not a playmaker good enough take pressure off Devin Booker and his band of rookies. He won’t get more than four assists per game this season, leaving most of the assist opportunities to Booker still. Among this season’s non-Booker playmakers, Johnson won’t get quite as many assists as Melton, Crawford or Okobo, though in the Suns offense the difference may be negligible. And no, Johnson is not a score-first point guard either. He won’t be one of the Suns’ top scorers on most nights, but he will likely be their third or fourth-highest scorer. Also, Johnson is not a street-level free agent looking for a job. Nor is he a rookie point guard playing his first year in the Americas. Johnson also isn’t a rookie who’s never been a point guard before and took an entire year off basketball just before coming to the team. Johnson isn’t a fast-declining player who almost never feels young again either. What he is Johnson is a 26 year old fifth-year combo guard who has played 24-plus minutes per game for the Miami Heat, including a pair of playoff runs. It’s quite understandable if you’re confused on what to think of this information. The former Fresno State guard recognizes the value of three-point shots in an offense. Among this season’s non-Booker playmakers, Johnson has the best true shooting percentage (54 percent vs. 47 percent), three point attempt rate (51 percent vs. 38 percent), and three-point shooting percentage (35.2 percent vs 29 percent). Johnson also turns the ball over less than his predecessors next to Booker, which is important on a team struggling to handle the ball. His turnover rate is 30 percent lower than the guys he’s competing against for ball handling minutes. What he is replacing and/or sharing minutes with Let’s take a walk down memory lane. Point or combo guards who shared playmaking duties with Booker in 2017-18: Eric Bledsoe — 40 percent shooting, 3.0 assists — sent home, traded Mike James — 38 percent, 4.2 assists — journeyman, out of league Tyler Ulis — 38 percent, 4.8 assists — journeyman, out of league Isaiah Canaan — 20 percent, 3.0 assists — injury (ankle) — journeyman Elfrid Payton — 45 percent, 6.6 assists — released end of season Note: That’s an average of 36 percent shooting (29 percent on 3s) with 3.4 assists per game from starters next to Booker. The Suns had 35 different starting lineups in 82 games last year. Only two played together for more than 6 games, while there were an astonishing 21 different starting lineups who only played together once. Unbelievable. How about this season, where the Suns were supposed to turn the corner to start winning games? Isaiah Canaan — 39 percent shooting, 3.3 assists — journeyman Elie Okobo — 39 percent, 3.6 assists — rookie De’Anthony Melton — 35 percent, 3.8 assists — rookie Jamal Crawford — 36 percent, 3.5 assists Note: That’s an average of 37 percent shooting (28 percent three pointers) with 3.5 assists per game from starters next to Booker. The Suns have had 19 different starting lineups this season, and the only one that’s played more than six games together has had three rookies among them. What to expect from Tyler Johnson First of all, the bar is low for Johnson to be worth his minutes on this team. For Johnson to be an improvement over Crawford, Melton and Okobo, he simply needs to exceed 8 points, 3.5 assists, better than 1:1 assist to turnover ratio and exceed better than 29 percent on 3s in 25 minutes per game. Johnson’s career numbers: 11 points, 2.5 assists, 2:1 assists-to-turnover ratio and 35% three point shooting in 25 minutes per game. Not great, but collectively better than anything the Suns have trotted out at Booker’s sidekick lately. If and when Okobo or Melton improve enough to consistently provide more than Johnson, or if the Suns bring in someone else who’s better, then it’s easy to slide the fifth-year veteran back into that combo role off the bench. All in all, Johnson will improve the Suns’ competence level on the court, and that’s worth an extra $3.5 million on the books for the 2019-20 season (even more than Ryan Anderson’s dead cap number) and large expiring contract for trade inclusion next year (ex: DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews from the Kristaps Porzingis trade).<doc-sep>
When the Suns traded Ryan Anderson for Tyler Johnson — Wayne Ellington was also included in the deal for further salary relief but was waived Thursday — my first reaction was probably like many others. Huh? However, the more I thought about it, the more I think it makes sense when it comes to how Phoenix will play their cards this offseason. And also switching out Anderson, who was on the end of the Suns’ bench, for a likely starter is a win in the short-term as the young core needs more proven players around them. Johnson, even though he’s being paid around $3.5 million more, will make an even bigger impact than Anderson ever made with the Suns. That’s a guarantee after the disastrous stint with Anderson that saw him make only seven (!!) three-pointers in his entire Suns tenure. The fifth-year undrafted combo guard out of Fresno State also provides one of the youngest rotations in the league with playoff experience. Johnson has appeared in 10 playoff games, five of which he started for the Heat in 2017-18 against Philadelphia. Over the last 3-4 years, Johnson could easily qualify as the player with playoff experience who actually benefits Phoenix. Jared Dudley and Tyson Chandler were over the hill the past few seasons, while Trevor Ariza simply quit on the team after a few weeks of realizing what situation he was actually in. From that aspect, adding in someone who continues to build their scrappy identity makes sense. Johnson, unlike the other veterans mentioned, won’t loaf around. He is the type of player who gets his teeth knocked out and keeps going with no hesitation, like we saw on multiple occasions in Miami. Adding Johnson alongside names like Josh Jackson, Mikal Bridges, Kelly Oubre Jr., Richaun Holmes, and De’Anthony Melton helps solidify that newfound team building concept. Johnson can handle the ball in pick-and-roll situations and create his own shot when asked. That’s desperately needed at the moment when seeing how much Elie Okobo struggles with basic actions. The thing is, Phoenix has 11 wins. They are on pace for less than last year’s lowly mark of 21 victories, which would be the worst season in franchise history since the expansion Suns over 50 years ago. Johnson is a lateral move that won’t help much in the win-loss column — maybe that was their plan all along when eyeing prospects like Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Ja Morant even though owner Robert Sarver said the “switch had flipped to winning” four months ago — but it provides some sort of backcourt stability. So far this season, Johnson is averaging 10.8 points and 2.5 assists in 25.5 minutes but the bigger number to focus on here is his contract figures. Johnson makes $19.3 million with a player option for the same bloated salary for 2019-20. All of a sudden, after Sarver said on 98.7 FM during the preseason that they were preserving max cap space, that’s out the window. There’s two scenarios how the Suns can get back to above the key $32.7 million threshold for a max contract slot in free agency: 1.) Trade Johnson with a pick for pure salary relief; 2.) Trade T.J. Warren and renounce rights to Oubre Jr. Immediately, the second option is an unrealistic route for me, so salary dumping Johnson is the most logical way to get back into that position. Jones sounded like someone who values Johnson, as he mentioned on Burns & Gambo Thursday afternoon, but also knows his $19.3 million expiring salary could be vital to pulling off a trade to accelerate Phoenix’s near decade-long rebuild attempt. Adding Johnson with one of the Suns’ wings gets them around $25-30 million in a trade this offseason. That matters when surveying the landscape for possible point guard and power forward targets. And it all will be decided by how May’s draft lottery goes. (Possible trade targets who make sense using Johnson’s expiring will be outlined this weekend on BSOTS, so stay tuned.) If the Suns luck into their second consecutive No. 1 pick, Zion Williamson immediately steps in as the power forward of the future next to Deandre Ayton. If it’s at Nos. 2 or 3, Murray State’s Ja Morant or Duke’s R.J. Barrett qualify as best player available. Wherever they land in the lottery, it will go hand-in-hand with how the offseason is attacked.