http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/25939298/trade-grades-tyler-johnson-deal-means-suns-heat Trade grades: What the Tyler Johnson deal means for Suns, Heat The deal Suns get: Tyler Johnson, Wayne Ellington Heat get: Ryan Anderson Phoenix Suns: B+ Over the past couple of years, the Suns' dilemma has been whether to acquire a starting point guard or let Devin Booker take over the position. Dealing for Johnson sort of splits the difference. A combo guard capable of playing either at the point or off the ball, Johnson can share playmaking duties with Booker while retaining value as a spot-up shooter when Booker is at the controls. So far this season, Johnson has split has minutes almost evenly between the point and the 2-guard positions, taking on the latter role as a starter recently alongside Justise Winslow. I'd expect Phoenix to use Johnson to bring the ball up and initiate the offense on a regular basis before giving way to Booker as part of the primary action. The downside of Johnson's versatility is it's hard to identify any specific area in which he excels. He's a solid 3-point shooter but not an elite one, having hit 37 percent beyond the arc in his career but just 35 percent so far this season -- a tad worse than league average. Nonetheless, Johnson is a huge upgrade on the Suns' other ballhandling options. Even if he's not Phoenix's point guard of the future, he can solidify the position for the short term and keep the Suns from having to overpay to get one. Ellington was included strictly to help Miami save money and has little use to a team flush with wings. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that his agent is working with Phoenix on waiving him to sign with a playoff team. Ellington has leverage because as a player on a one-year contract with Bird rights at its conclusion, he had veto power over his inclusion in the trade. From a financial standpoint, the Suns are probably thinking of this as paying $3.6 million next year for Johnson. That's the marginal difference between his salary and the $15.6 million Anderson was guaranteed in 2019-20 after agreeing to reduce it as part of Phoenix's trade acquiring him from the Houston Rockets. (The Suns could also have stretched Anderson's guaranteed salary to create additional cap space.) Given Anderson wasn't a contributor at all -- after opening the season as Phoenix's starting power forward, he hadn't seen game action since December 4 -- that and Ellington's salary the remainder this season are a small price to pay to upgrade. Miami Heat: B- It was the Brooklyn Nets' backloaded offer sheet to Johnson, a restricted free agent whose initial salary was limited by the so-called "Arenas rule," that initially sent the Heat down their current luxury-tax path. Miami utilized the cap space created by Johnson's artificially low salary early in the deal to sign players to multiyear contracts, then went into the tax when Johnson's salary went up more than $13 million this year. While this deal doesn't quite get the Heat out of the tax, they're close. If Kelly Olynyk indeed misses out on a $1 million incentive bonus for playing 1,700 minutes, as noted by ESPN's Bobby Marks, dealing Rodney McGruder before the deadline would probably be enough to allow Miami to avoid the tax altogether. The Heat also reduce their 2019-20 payroll. Waiving Anderson would save Miami about $3.6 million in 2019-20 salary. Using the stretch provision on Anderson's contract would save an additional $10 million or so, likely enough to enable the Heat to get out of the tax even if Goran Dragic ($19.2 million) and Hassan Whiteside ($27.1 million) both pick up player options as expected. (A stretch would come at the cost of a $5 million cap hit on the books through 2021-22, by which point the Heat can be players in free agency again.) On the court, it's a bit surprising to see Miami move on from its current starter at shooting guard. The Heat had a logjam in the backcourt, however, with Ellington and McGruder both falling out of the rotation in recent weeks. If Dragic returns from knee surgery shortly after the All-Star break, they should capably replace Johnson's minutes. Miami definitely risks weakening its backcourt if another player goes down to injury at some point over the next two months of the season, but will live with that risk given the financial benefits.
Timing is everything. Lux tax savings was all about flipping Ryan's turd clog into two smaller flushable turds. Granted Johnson and Ellington are far more serviceable, but I have the feeling Johnson would've been dumped this week even on the rockets
It's because everyone is afraid of the Houston Rockets. Everyone was shocked to see our guys coming so close to knocking GS out.
Asshats in Miami front office: They messed up three team deal that would have given us Wayne: A PERFECT guy to nail threes. This is a repeat of messing with us when we went for JJ. Udonis and and Juwan like Spo, but that locker room is also a mess. Hassan is tiiiied (tired).
https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article226132985.html Heat forward Ryan Anderson was pleased to make his Heat debut late in Monday’s loss in Denver, even though it was a mere 1:53 of game action. He had one assist and didn’t attempt a shot or score a point. Anderson appeared in only 15 games and 278 minutes for Phoenix this season being traded to Miami last week in a deal that sent Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington to the Suns. Johnson is now starting for Phoenix; Ellington was waived and signed with Detroit. “It felt good to get out there,” said Anderson, who has averaged 12.5 points and shot 38 percent on three-pointers in 638 NBA games. “I’m just happy to be with this group. Seeing how hard they play, how much they want to win is so refreshing to me.” Erik Spoelstra said the Heat will work on Anderson’s conditioning, and Anderson — who appears to be in good shape — said he’s on a diet plan. “There is a Miami Heat standard that no other team I’ve played on has this type of elite level conditioning, which is amazing,” he said. ”I’ve been doing workouts every day. My conditioning I feel pretty good about.” Anderson, 30, has received no assurances about playing time. But he disputes any notion that his skills have diminished, even though his playing time has decreased since averaging 17.0 points for New Orleans in 2015-16 and 13.6 for Houston in 2016-17. “I know that’s something people say, but it couldn’t be more false,” he said. “I’ve gone from teams where I shot 14, 15 shots a game to six or seven shots. My last year in Houston, I got injured and then I didn’t play. I was getting maybe six shots a game that season. This year, there was no consistency in playing time. “I’m a role player. That’s why I fit really well into this system. I’m not a one-on-one player. I’ve been on two teams the past two years in Phoenix and my last year in Houston where it’s all one-on-ones. My game is shooting the ball, pick and pop.” He said he can seize on mismatches in the post, but “I probably had a handful of postups the past two years. It’s a bit frustrating when people say [his skills have declined].” The expectation is that the Heat likely will release Anderson by July 10 — a move that lessens his salary and cap hit from $21 million to $15.6 million next season. Anderson said he hasn’t spoken to Heat president Pat Riley since the trade. “I want to bring the best version of myself to this team,” he said. “I will be able to shoot the ball until I’m 80 years old. I know I can bring that, but most of all, I want to add to this group and make it a better team.”
