The Miami Heat made a significant commitment to their youth movement Sunday, matching the Brooklyn Nets' four-year, $50 million offer sheet to retain guard Tyler Johnson.
Faced with a "poison pill" element in the contract that calls for salaries of nearly $19 million and $20 million over the final two seasons, the Heat nonetheless decided to move forward with the development of a player they landed as an undrafted free agent out of Fresno State in 2014-15.
The move with Johnson, 24, is the Heat's latest toward taking a long view in the wake of last week's stunning loss of franchise icon Dwyane Wade to the Chicago Bulls in free agency.
In addition to Johnson, the Heat also will move forward with the youthful potential of shot-blocking center Hassan Whiteside; 2015 draft picks Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson; 2015-16 late-season addition Briante Weber, an undrafted rookie out of Virginia Commonwealth in 2015; and guard Rodney McGruder, a product of their NBA Development League affiliate, who last week signed a three-year agreement with a $100,000 guarantee.
The decision with Johnson should have minimal impact on the Heat's goal of becoming a major player in 2017 free agency, with salaries of $5.6 million for the coming season and then $5.9 million in 2017-18.
But it is what looms beyond that had the Heat taking the maximum three days before responding Sunday to the Nets' offer sheet.
The Heat already have salary commitments for 2018-19 at $27 million for forward Chris Bosh, $25 million for Whiteside and $18 million for guard Goran Dragic. Bosh's contract then expires before the 2019-20 season, when the Heat have commitments of $27 million for Whiteside and $19 million for Dragic.
Under NBA rules regarding offer sheets, Johnson now cannot be traded for one year without his consent, as well as under a prohibition of trading him to the Nets for a calendar year. Johnson was a restricted free agent because he had fewer than three seasons of NBA tenure, making his NBA debut in 2014-15 as a call-up from the D-League Sioux Falls Skyforce.
The Nets' approach with the back-loaded deal was similar to the one the Houston Rockets utilized in the 2012 offseason to secure Jeremy Lin from the New York Knicks when Lin was a restricted free agent. Lin this offseason signed with the Nets.
The Nets also failed Sunday in a similar bid to land guard Allen Crabbe, another restricted free agent, from the Portland Trail Blazers.
Johnson has emerged as the latest of the Heat's success stories with undrafted players, developing a 3-point shot to go with his defensive tenacity. There were, however, ongoing concerns about shoulder issues that had been present for years, with surgery required this past season. Johnson said after the season he anticipated a complete recovery.
Until Sunday, the offseason had been one of losses for the Heat, with the free-agency departures of Wade, Luol Deng and Joe Johnson, with Deng joining the Los Angeles Lakers and Joe Johnson the Utah Jazz.
The Heat, however, have re-signed Whiteside, Udonis Haslem and now Tyler Johnson, as well as reached agreements in the past three days with Knicks free-agent forward Derrick Williams. Nets free-agent guard Wayne Ellington and Toronto Raptors free-agent forward James Johnson. The Heat also traded Sunday for New Orleans Pelicans forward Luke Babbitt.
Gerald Green, Amar'e Stoudemire and Dorell Wright remain free agents from the Heat's season-ending roster.
Because of the way rules are written for restricted free agents, Tyler Johnson had to seek an outside offer to receive more than $28 million over four years from the Heat.
Johnson also had drawn reported interest from the Bulls, Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings.
