Oh, the fickleness of NBA free agency.
Mere minutes before reports surfaced that the Boston Celtics had agreed to terms with Amir Johnson, the predominant reaction from fans and lay observers on social media Wednesday was resigned indignation. Another summer of big promises with little payout quickly turned to surprise, then incredulity, that the Celtics will shell out a reported $12 million next season for the little-known 28-year-old big man out of Westchester High School in Los Angeles.
But while Johnson isn’t the big name many envisioned, he happens to be a pretty darn good player who will make the Celtics a lot better than some of the other names they had been linked to.
In Johnson, the Celtics will get the frontcourt defensive standout they have coveted ever since they shipped Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn. The 6-foot-9 forward isn’t a rim protector per se, averaging only 1.7 blocks per 36 minutes over his 10-year career. But he is one of the league’s best at contesting shots at the rim and then gobbling up the rebound in traffic — something that shows up in the box score as a plain-old defensive rebound but is way more valuable than that.
If Johnson were solely a nice defender, that would be one thing. But he’s not. Despite a slight 210-pound frame — 30 pounds lighter than Kevin Durant’s listed weight, to put that number in context — Johnson is one of the NBA’s elite screen-setters. That should satisfy all the Kendrick Perkins fans out there, but unlike Perk, Johnson actually does things after setting the screen. A screen is only worthwhile if it leads to some further action, after all.
He’s a better offensive player than even his admirers think, due to a usage rate that hovers around a modest 15 percent. He converted 57.4 percent of his field goal attempts last season and took just 35 two-pointers outside the paint, which means he knows what he is offensively. The Raptors scored 115 points per 100 possessions with Johnson on the court last season, which would have been the second-best offensive rating on the Celtics behind Tyler Zeller.
This two-way ability is crucial because, short of employing a game-changing wing player like LeBron James or Durant, there are three things a team needs to contend at a high level in the NBA today:
— A rim protecter
— An efficient pick-and-roll duo
— At least two consistent 3-point shooters to spread the floor
Johnson helps check off the first two boxes. He’s a standout defensively and, combined with Isaiah Thomas, should turn defenders in circles on pick-and-rolls. It’s not clear who the shooters will be; Avery Bradley probably is one, but then there are a host of question marks. The Celtics would love Jonas Jerebko and James Young to step up, R.J. Hunter is too green to gauge and the Jared Sullinger long-distance experiment looks to have failed. More moves are likely to come.
Unfamiliarity aside, Johnson is the player casual Celtics fans might realize they didn’t know they wanted on their club. LaMarcus Aldridge or Kevin Love would have been better pickups, certainly, but it’s clear now neither ever was coming to Boston. Greg Monroe has his boosters, but despite being younger and having better size, he’s nowhere near as dynamic as Johnson. Since lots of folks likely have grilling on their minds heading into the holiday weekend, we’ll put it like this: Johnson will more than make up for in steak what he lacks in sizzle.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Mills/USA TODAY Sports Images
