SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ The Tyler Johnson era has come to an end for the Miami Heat, with the undrafted developmental find dealt Wednesday to the Phoenix Suns, according to ESPN.
With an oversized contract that pays in excess of $19 million this season, with that amount also due for a player-option season in 2019-20, the Heat moved on in advance of Thursday's NBA trading deadline.
Johnson, 26, joined the Heat as an undrafted free agent during the 2014-15 season, playing well enough to earn a four-year, $50 million offer sheet from the Brooklyn Nets during the 2016 offseason as a restricted free agent.
The complex structure of that deal eventually hamstrung the Heat from a salary-cap and luxury-tax standpoint, with the bulk of the salary coming in the final two years of the deal.
Johnson recently had moved into the Heat starting lineup in place of Rodney McGruder. He is best known for his hustle that often left him with missing teeth and other aggression-related injuries.
The Suns personnel department is headed by former Heat forward James Jones.
